The Self-Employed Are Less Likely To Have Health Insurance Than Wage Earners: So What?

Craig Perry and Harvey Rosen
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Craig Perry: Princeton University
Harvey Rosen: Princeton University

No 129, Working Papers from Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies.

Abstract: There is considerable public policy concern over the relatively low rates of health insurance coverage among the self-employed in the United States. Presumably, the reason for the concern is that their low rates of insurance lead to worse health outcomes. We use data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey conducted in 1996 to analyze how the self-employed and wage-earners differ with respect to insurance coverage and health status. Using a variety of ways to measure health status, we find that the relative lack of health insurance among the self-employed does not affect their health. For virtually every subjective and objective measure of health status, the self-employed and wage earners are statistically indistinguishable from each other. Further, we present some evidence that this phenomenon is not due to the fact that individuals who select into self-employment are healthier than wage-earners, ceteris paribus. Thus, public policy concern with the relative lack of health insurance among the self-employed may be somewhat misplaced.

Keywords: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey; MEPS; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I18 J23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pbe, nep-pol and nep-reg
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pri:cepsud:71

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