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on Insurance Economics |
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Issue of 2009‒11‒27
four papers chosen by Soumitra K Mallick Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Bussiness Management |
| By: | Robert W. Fairlie (Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz and RAND); Kanika Kapur (School of Economics and Geary Institute, University College Dublin and RAND); Susan Gates (RAND) |
| Abstract: | The focus on employer-provided health insurance in the United States may restrict business creation. We address the limited research on the topic of “entrepreneurship lock” by using recent panel data from matched Current Population Surveys. We use difference-in-difference models to estimate the interaction between having a spouse with employer-based health insurance and potential demand for health care. We find evidence of a larger negative effect of health insurance demand on the entrepreneurship probability for those without spousal coverage than for those with spousal coverage. We also take a new approach in the literature to examine the question of whether employer-based health insurance discourages entrepreneurship by exploiting the discontinuity created at age 65 through the qualification for Medicare. Using a novel procedure of identifying age in months from matched monthly CPS data, we compare the probability of business ownership among male workers in the months just before turning age 65 and in the months just after turning age 65. We find that business ownership rates increase from just under age 65 to just over age 65, whereas we find no change in business ownership rates from just before to just after for other ages 55-75. Our estimates provide some evidence that "entrepreneurship lock" exists, which raises concerns that the bundling of health insurance and employment may create an inefficient allocation of which or when workers start businesses. |
| Keywords: | Self-employment, entrepreneurship, health insurance |
| Date: | 2009–11–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:200939&r=ias |
| By: | Jonathan Gruber (Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142) |
| Abstract: | Jonathan Gruber was a key architect of Massachusetts’ ambitious health reform effort, and in 2006 became an inaugural member of the Health Connector Board, the main implementing body for that effort. He delivered this lecture on October 2, 2009, and his references are to Congressional bills that were under consideration on that date. He laid out the universal coverage debate that’s gone on for a long time in the United States; described a new solution that he think they found for Massachusetts; described how the Massachusetts reform works; and how it can be extended nationally. Finally he spent time on the key issues that Congress is facing in fall 2009 trying to take this model to the national level. |
| Keywords: | health care reform, universal coverage, tax credits, minimum benefits, rationing, employer-sponsored insurance benefits, ESI, cost control, affordability, Massachusetts, employer responsibility, incremental universalism, individual mandate, shared responsibility, pooling, affordability, single payer, public option |
| JEL: | D14 H51 I11 I18 L33 |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:max:cprpbr:41&r=ias |
| By: | Susan M Gates (RAND Corporation); Pinar Karaca-Mandic (University of Minnesota); James R Burgdorf (RAND Corporation); Kanika Kapur (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | A combination of high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) holds promise for expanding health insurance for small firms. We provide information on HSA take-up and shopping behavior from a 2008 survey of female small business owners, revealing that the HSA marketplace can be confusing for small firms. HSAs may have expanded access to health insurance for the smallest firms (under three employees), but not for small firms more generally. A sizable number of firms offering HSA-eligible insurance did not offer attached HSAs. Firms offering HSAs were satisfied with their experiences, but faced challenges in implementing them. |
| Keywords: | Health Savings Accounts, Health Insurance Costs, Small Business |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:200925&r=ias |
| By: | Susan M. Gates (RAND Corporation); Pinar Karaca-Mandic (University of Minnesota and RAND Corporation); James R. Burgdorf (RAND Corporation); Kanika Kapur (School of Economics and Geary Institute, University College Dublin and RAND Corporation) |
| Abstract: | A combination of high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) holds promise for expanding health insurance for small firms. We provide information on HSA take-up and shopping behavior from a 2008 survey of female small business owners, revealing that the HSA marketplace can be confusing for small firms. HSAs may have expanded access to health insurance for the smallest firms (under three employees), but not for small firms more generally. A sizable number of firms offering HSA-eligible insurance did not offer attached HSAs. Firms offering HSAs were satisfied with their experiences, but faced challenges in implementing them. |
| Keywords: | Health Savings Accounts, Health Insurance Costs, Small Business |
| Date: | 2009–11–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:200938&r=ias |