Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/101914 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8386
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We exploit an age discontinuity in a Dutch disability insurance (DI) reform to identify the health impact of stricter eligibility criteria and reduced generosity. Women subject to the more stringent rule experience greater rates of hospitalization and mortality. A €1,000 reduction in annual benefits leads to a rise of 4.2 percentage points in the probability of being hospitalized and a 2.6 percentage point higher probability of death more than 10 years after the reform. There are no effects on the hospitalization of men subject to stricter rules but their mortality rate is reduced by 1.2 percentage points. The negative health effect on females is restricted to women with low pre-disability earnings. We hypothesize that the gender difference in the effect is due to the reform tightening eligibility particularly with respect to mental health conditions, which are more prevalent among female DI claimants. A simple back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that every dollar reduction in DI is almost completely offset by additional health care costs. This implies that policy makers considering a DI reform should carefully balance the welfare gains from reduced moral hazard against losses not only from less coverage of income risks but also from deteriorated health.
Subjects: 
disability insurance
moral hazard
health
mortality
regression discontinuity
JEL: 
I14
H53
I38
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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