Working Paper: NBER ID: w22170
Authors: LuoJia Hu; Robert Kaestner; Bhashkar Mazumder; Sarah Miller; Ashley Wong
Abstract: We examine the effect of the Medicaid expansions under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) on consumer financial outcomes using data from a major credit reporting agency for a large, national sample of adults. We employ the synthetic control method to compare individuals living in states that expanded Medicaid to those that did not. We find that the Medicaid expansions significantly reduced the number of unpaid bills and the amount of debt sent to third-party collection agencies among those residing in zip codes with the highest share of low-income, uninsured individuals. Our estimates imply a reduction in collection balances of approximately $1,140 among those who gain Medicaid coverage due to the ACA. Our findings suggest that the ACA Medicaid expansions had important financial impacts beyond health care use.
Keywords: Medicaid; Affordable Care Act; Financial Wellbeing
JEL Codes: H20; I13; I38
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Medicaid eligibility (I18) | consumer financial wellbeing (G51) |
| Medicaid expansions (I18) | unpaid bills (G33) |
| Medicaid expansions (I18) | debt sent to collection agencies (F34) |
| Medicaid coverage (I18) | collection balances (A30) |
| Medicaid expansions (I18) | total consumer debt (D19) |