Disability Insurance and Health Insurance Reform: Evidence from Massachusetts
Nicole Maestas, Kathleen J. Mullen, Alexander Strand
American Economic Review · 2014 · Volume 104 · Issue 5
Abstract
As health insurance becomes available outside of the employment relationship as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the cost of applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)–potentially going without health insurance coverage during a waiting period totaling 29 months from disability onset–will decline for many people with employer-sponsored health insurance. At the same time, the value of SSDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) participation will decline for individuals who otherwise lacked access to health insurance. We study the 2006 Massachusetts health insurance reform to estimate the potential effects of the ACA on SSDI and SSI applications.
Keywords
Insurance, Insurance Companies, Actuarial Studies, National Government Expenditures and Health, State and Local Government: Health, Education, Welfare, Public Pensions, Health Insurance, Public and Private, Health: Government Policy, Regulation, Public Health, Economics of the Elderly, Economics of the Handicapped, Non-labor Market Discrimination
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