Working Paper: NBER ID: w21990
Authors: Sanders Korenman; Dahlia K. Remler
Abstract: We develop and implement what we believe is the first conceptually valid health-inclusive poverty measure (HIPM)—a measure that includes health care or insurance in the poverty needs threshold and health insurance benefits in family resources—and we discuss its limitations. Building on the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, we construct a pilot HIPM for the under-65 population under ACA-like health reform in Massachusetts. This pilot is intended to demonstrate the practicality, face validity and value of a HIPM. Results suggest that public health insurance benefits and premium subsidies accounted for a substantial, one-third reduction in the poverty rate. Among low-income families who purchased individual insurance, premium subsidies reduced poverty by 9.4 percentage points.
Keywords: Health Insurance; Poverty Measurement; Massachusetts Health Reform
JEL Codes: I13; I32
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| public health insurance benefits (H51) | poverty rates (I32) |
| premium subsidies (G52) | poverty rates (I32) |
| HIPM (I13) | poverty rate (I32) |
| public health insurance programs (I18) | poverty (I32) |
| premium subsidies (G52) | poverty (I32) |
| public and private health insurance benefits (I13) | child poverty rates (I32) |
| public health insurance (I13) | poverty gap (I32) |
| premium subsidies (G52) | poverty gap (I32) |