Dependent Health Insurance Laws and College Enrollment: Is There Evidence of College Lock?

David Yaskewich ()

Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 2015, vol. 36, issue 4, 557-569

Abstract: For many years, the tax code gave an incentive for employers to offer dependent coverage for full-time students up to the age of 24. Recently, a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 mandated that the definition of a dependent include young adults up to age 26, regardless of student status. Many states have passed similar mandates. The newly-acquired dependent status of non-students may encourage some young adults to avoid college. I compared a state that made the largest changes to its definition of a dependent (New Jersey) to a neighboring state that made no change (Pennsylvania). This study estimated that New Jersey’s law reduced college enrollment by 15–24 % in New Jersey relative to Pennsylvania. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Keywords: Health insurance; Health economics; College enrollment; Human capital; Transition to adulthood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1007/s10834-014-9414-3

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