The Effect of Medicaid Expansions in the Late 1980s and Early 1990s on the Labor Supply of Pregnant Women

Dhaval Dave, Sandra L. Decker (), Robert Kaestner and Kosali I. Simon
Additional contact information
Sandra L. Decker: National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Kosali I. Simon: School of Environmental and Public Affairs, Indiana University and NBER

American Journal of Health Economics, 2015, vol. 1, issue 2, 165-193

Abstract: A substantial body of research has found that expansions in Medicaid eligibility increased enrollment in Medicaid, reduced the rate of uninsured, and reduced the rate of private health insurance coverage (i.e., crowd-out). Notably, no published research has examined the labor supply mechanism by which crowd-out could occur. This study examines the effects of expansions in Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women in the late 1980s and the early 1990s on labor supply, which is one of the possible mechanisms underlying crowd-out. Estimates suggest that the 20 percentage point increase in Medicaid eligibility during the sample period was associated with an 11–13 percent decrease in the probability that a woman who gave birth in the past year was employed. Among unmarried women with less than a high school education, the change in Medicaid eligibility reduced employment by approximately 13 percent to 16 percent. We find that most of this reduction in labor supply was associated with crowd-out (i.e., movement from private to public insurance concurrent with the shift in labor supply).

Keywords: health economics; economics; health; medicaid; women; pregnancy; health insurance; crowd-out. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I11 I13 I14 J1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (34)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Effect of Medicaid Expansions in the Late 1980s and Early 1990s on the Labor Supply of Pregnant Women (2015)
Working Paper: The Effect of Medicaid Expansions in the Late 1980s and Early 1990s on the Labor Supply of Pregnant Women (2013)
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