Insuring the uninsured : analyzing aspects of federal health insurance programs
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The first two chapters of this dissertation investigate the demand for publicly financed health insurance programs. Data from two separate surveys employing contingent valuation methodology were used to measure respondents' willingness-to-pay for an expansion of Medicaid, the provision of means-tested subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance, and the provision of subsidies for the purchase of private insurance by the chronically-ill. Using a parametric model, the average willingness-to-pay for the means-tested programs was found to be significantly less than the estimated costs of the programs. The aggregate willingness-to-pay for a program of public subsidies targeted for the chronically-ill may exceed the costs of such a program, depending on the specific characteristics of such a program. The distributional consequences of these publicly financed programs are also investigated. Estimates suggest that individuals in the lowest income quintile would receive net benefits from the means-tested programs, while individuals in the highest three quintiles would experience a loss in welfare. With respect to the program for the chronically-ill, the lowest three income quintiles would receive a net benefit, while individuals in the highest quintile would experience a net loss. Survey responses were found to be consistent with economic theory and of reasonable magnitude. Implications of these results for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are discussed. The third chapter investigates how liberalizations in Medicaid eligibility affect the take-up rates by those whose eligibility is unaffected. A highly-stylized model of these impacts at the household level is developed. Empirical implications of the model are tested using federally mandated changes in Medicaid eligibility enacted in the late 1980s. A difference-in-difference model estimated at the individual level with data from the CPS supports the conclusion that the federal mandates resulted in significant increases in take-up rates amongst individuals who were eligible under previous eligibility criteria. Estimates using state-level data suggest that for each individual who enrolled in Medicaid under the expanded eligibility requirements, a further .83 individuals enrolled who were eligible under the previously existing eligibility requirements. The applicability of the stylized model to the ACA is discussed.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2014 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Langlois, Stephen A |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Economics. |
| Primary advisor | Shoven, John B |
| Thesis advisor | Shoven, John B |
| Thesis advisor | Kessler, Daniel P |
| Thesis advisor | Wright, Gavin, 1943- |
| Advisor | Kessler, Daniel P |
| Advisor | Wright, Gavin, 1943- |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Stephen A. Langlois. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Economics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2014. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2014 by Stephen Langlois
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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