How Do Economic Shocks Affect Family Health Care Spending Burdens?

Abstract

This research was funded by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ R01HS024053). We thank Samuel Zuvekas and Steven Hill of AHRQ for their expert advice on the use of MEPS data and development of longitudinal family weights. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

Income Shocks and Out-of-Pocket Health Care Spending: Implications for Single-Mother Families

“…Several studies find that families respond to income losses by decreasing out-of-pocket spending (Ganong & Noel, 2019 ; Karaca-Mandic et al, 2014 ). However, very few studies (Grafova et al, 2020b ) are devoted specifically to how health care spending decisions in single-mother families are affected by income changes. Most of the existing literature devoted to single-mother families either finds that living in a single-mother family is associated with low income and high poverty rates, or links living in single-mother family to adverse physical and mental health outcomes (Bzostek & Beck, 2011 ; Langton & Berger, 2011 ).…”