Full Citation

Title: Health insurance, medical debt, and financial well-being

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2022

ISBN:

ISSN: 1099-1050

DOI: 10.1002/HEC.4472

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID: 35001448

Abstract: We study the financial protection provided by health insurance through two natural experiments—the Affordable Care Act's under 26 provision and Medicare eligibility. In both cases, the coverage expansion sharply reduces medical debt in collections for consumers within the affected ages but does not systematically improve credit outcomes not directly related to medical care. This is consistent with the infrequent repayment rate and lack of persistence on credit reports that we document for medical collections, which mute a key channel through which reductions in medical collections could directly affect the other financial outcomes studied here. These results help clarify the role of health insurance in broader financial health and suggest that, at least among the populations studied here, medical debts in collection may often be a symptom rather than a cause of wider financial distress as measured on credit reports.

Url: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hec.4472

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Batty, Michael; Gibbs, Christa; Ippolito, Benedic

Periodical (Full): Health Economics

Issue: 5

Volume: 31

Pages: 689-728

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Population Health and Health Systems, Poverty and Welfare

Countries: