Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/58771 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6124
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper investigates the impact of the macroeconomy on the health insurance coverage of Americans using panel data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) for 2004-2010, a period that includes the Great Recession of 2007-09. We find that a one percentage point increase in the state unemployment rate is associated with a 1.67 percentage point (2.12%) reduction in the probability that men have health insurance; this effect is strongest among college-educated, white, and older (50-64 year old) men. We estimate that 9.3 million Americans, the vast majority of whom were adult men, lost health insurance due to a higher unemployment rate alone during the 2007-09 recession. We conclude with a discussion of how components of recent health care reform may influence this relationship in the future.
Subjects: 
health insurance
Medicaid
SCHIP
recession
unemployment
JEL: 
I10
J3
J6
E32
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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