Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/263547 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15331
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced a premium tax credit to help low-income families purchase insurance and an individual mandate penalty to encourage purchasing insurance, but a couple’s total tax credit and mandate penalty may differ depending on whether they are married. We use a sample of married and cohabiting couples in the 2012–2017 American Community Surveys and leverage variation in the marriage subsidy created by the ACA’s premium tax credit, individual mandate, and Medicaid expansion. Using an instrumental variables approach, we estimate a significant though small positive marriage response that is robust to extensive controls and a placebo sample.
Subjects: 
marriage
affordable care act
premium tax credit
individual mandate
JEL: 
J12
I18
H24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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