The Impact of Health Insurance on Health

Levy, Helen; Meltzer, David O.

doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.28.021406.144042

Cited by 233 publications

(196 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Previous work has established that health insurance coverage is capable of improving the health outcomes of lower-income families (Levy and Meltzer 2008). Similar to Baughman (2005), and Baughman and Duchovny (2016), this 16 The second sample is slightly different compared to the analysis on health status.…”

Section: Health Insurancementioning

confidence: 87%

The Effects of Income on Health: New Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit

Lenhart

2017

SSRN Journal

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This study examines the relationship between income and health by using an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which increased benefits to households with at least two children, as a source of exogenous variations of earnings. The paper adds to previous work by: (1) estimating treatment effects on the treated using simulated EITC benefits and longitudinal data; (2) testing whether health effects vary across the three different parts of the EITC schedule; (3) examining the role of food expenditures and health insurance as potential mechanisms. The study finds that income improves the likelihood of affected heads of households reporting to be in excellent or very good health by 6.9 to 8.9 percentage points. The effects are largest in the plateau phase of the EITC schedule, where previous researchers have identified pure income effects of the program. The results are robust to several additional specifications, including a semi-parametric DD model and specifications that account for the potential endogeneity of sample. When examining potential channels underlying the relationship between income and health, I find that affected household increase their food expenditures by 10.5 to 20.3 percent and are 1.52 percent more likely to have health insurance coverage.

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Section: Health Insurancementioning

confidence: 87%

The Effects of Income on Health: New Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit

Lenhart

2017

SSRN Journal

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“…Lee et al, 2010), the link between health insurance and health outcomes is sometimes challenged in the literature (e.g. Levy and Meltzer, 2008). Regarding Thailand, the evidence is surprisingly limited only to the very recent literature.…”

Section: Background: the Universal Health Coverage In Thailandmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of Universal Health Coverage on health care consumption and risky behaviours: evidence from Thailand

Ghislandi

Manachotphong

Perego

2014

HEPL

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Thailand is among one of the first non OECD countries to have successfully introduced a form of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in 2002. This policy defines a natural experiment for the evaluation of the effects of public health insurance on health behaviours. In the present paper, we look at the impact of the Thai UHC on preventive activities, risky behaviours and healthcare consumption using data from the 1996, 2001 and 2003 Health and Welfare Survey of Thailand. We use double robust estimators combining propensity scores and linear regressions to estimate Difference-in-Differences (DD) and Difference in DD (DDD) models. Results offer important insights. First, previously uninsured men and women increased their preventive activities (check-ups) more than any other groups. At the same time, there is no evidence of either an increase in risky behaviours or a reduction of preventive efforts by the newly insured population. In other words, we find no evidence of ex ante moral hazard. Regarding healthcare consumption, we see that hospital admissions increased by 2% and outpatient visits increased by 13% due to the UHC. Overall, these findings imply positive health impacts among the Thai population who entered in the UHC.

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“…Three principal factors affect the use of public health services by the elderly poor: health insurance, income, and access. First, enrollment in health insurance has significantly improved access to health care for older people (Cheng et al 2013) as they are more susceptible to health problems (Levy and Meltzer 2008) and have more elastic demand for health care (Ringel et al 2002) than young people. The health insurance status of the elderly is linked to previous employment in urban areas.…”

Section: A Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%