The effects of state EITC expansion on children’s health

This brief examines the impact of state-level adoption of Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs) on a set of health-related outcomes for children, including: (1) health insurance coverage, (2) use of preventive medical and dental care, and (3) health status measures including maternal reports of child health and body mass index. It also considers the possibility that the effect of the EITC on these outcomes may vary depending on where a child lives; families in urban and rural communities have different access to medical care and other resources that promote good health. Author Reagan Baughman reports that the expansion of state EITCs is associated with lower rates of public health insurance coverage and greater rates of private health insurance coverage among children. In addition, implementation of a state EITC appears to be associated with a significant improvement in a child\u27s health status for children ages 11 to 14 as reported by the child\u27s mother

How Do States Formulate Medicaid and SCHIP Policy? Economic and Political Determinants of State Eligibility Levels

We exploit the existence of substantial variation in state policies toward public health insurance for children between 1990 and 2002 to estimate the economic and political determinants of state eligibility levels. Controlling for state and year effects, eligibility levels are not significantly associated with either the percentage of uninsured children in the state or the eligibility policy of neighboring states; further, variation in eligibility levels within state is negatively associated with both the federal matching rate and state fiscal capacity. We also observe that state political preferences, measured by the Democrats share of seats in the lower chamber of the state legislature, are a relatively important a determinant of state eligibility levels. However, other political factors, such as party control of state government, voter turnout, legislative term limits and campaign finance regulations do not influence state eligibility levels.Medicaid, SCHIP, Political Economy, Race-to-the-Bottom

Low wages prevalent In direct care and child care workforce

The large-scale movement of women into the paid labor market has brought sweeping change into family life and also in who cares for the elderly and children. This brief studies workers in two low wage, predominantly female care-giving occupations plagued with high turnover, direct care workers and child care workers. It provides a better understanding of how they fare when compared with other female workers and discusses factors that contribute to their continued employment

Caring for America’s aging population: a profile of the direct-care workforce

Direct-care workers constitute a low-wage, high-turnover workforce with low levels of health insurance; taking these characteristics into account guides the challenge of how to deal with the growing demand for long-term care by an aging U.S. population

How Do States Formulate Medicaid and SCHIP Policy? Economic and Political Determinants of State Eligibility Levels

We exploit the existence of substantial variation in state policies toward public health insurance for children between 1990 and 2002 to estimate the economic and political determinants of state eligibility levels. Controlling for state and year effects, eligibility levels are not significantly associated with either the percentage of uninsured children in the state or the eligibility policy of neighboring states; further, variation in eligibility levels within state is negatively associated with both the federal matching rate and state fiscal capacity. We also observe that state political preferences, measured by the Democrats' share of seats in the lower chamber of the state legislature, are a relatively important a determinant of state eligibility levels. However, other political factors, such as party control of state government, voter turnout, legislative term limits and campaign finance regulations do not influence state eligibility levels

How Well Can We Track Cohabitation Using the SIPP? A Consideration of Direct and Inferred Measures

Cohabitation is an alternative to marriage and to living independently for an increasing number of Americans. Despite this fact, research exploring links between living arrangements and economic behavior is limited by a lack of data that explicitly identify cohabiting couples. To aid researchers in using the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) rich data for cohabitation issues, our paper considers direct and inferred measures of cohabitation. Our findings suggest that: (1) the best inferred measures in pre-1966 SIPP depends upon a researcher\u27s goals, and (2) the SIPP counts a larger number of cohabiting couples than the widely used CPS

Slippery When Wet: The Effects of Local Alcohol Access Laws on Highway Safety

This paper examines 237 instances of policy changes related to alcohol sales and consumption enacted in Texas communities between 1975 and 1996 to determine their effect on the incidence of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents. These policies are categorized by location where the alcohol is consumed after sale (on the premises or off) and the type of alcohol available for consumption (beer and wine or hard liquor). After controlling for both county and year fixed effects, we find evidence that (i) the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises (in bars and restaurants) is associated with a sizeable increase in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents, (ii) the sale of alcohol (in liquor stores) for consumption off the premises may actually decrease expected accidents, and (iii) the sale of higher proof alcohol (hard liquor) presents greater risk to highway safety

Three essays on the behavioral impacts of public policy on health

The first essay explores whether or not recent expansions in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) have enhanced private health insurance coverage for low-income workers. Theoretically, through both a (tax) price and income effect, the credit would be expected to raise private coverage. My results suggest that large EITC expansions between 1994 and 1996--which provide exogenous variation in benefits--lead to increases in employer-based health insurance coverage, but not in privately purchased non-group coverage. From these estimates I calculate that approximately 370,000 individuals gained employer-based coverage as a result of an expanded EITC between 1992 and 1998. The second essay is a study of the relationship between expansions in public health insurance programs and fertility patterns in the United States. Large expansions of Medicaid and the implementation of state Child Health Insurance Programs during the 1990s increased the availability of publicly subsidized health insurance for pregnancy-related services and child health care. Expanded coverage lowered the costs associated with bearing and raising children, and consequently had the potential to affect fertility behavior. I test this hypothesis using variation birthrates and in Medicaid/CHIP policies across states between 1989 and 1998 and find a 3 percent increase in the national birthrate in response to more generous public health insurance coverage. The third essay examines whether or not policies that restrict the sales of alcoholic beverages affect motor vehicle accident rates. For the analysis, we use a unique and detailed panel of data with annual observations on 254 Texas counties, each with their own alcohol control policies, over the period 1976 to 1996. After controlling for both county and year fixed effects, we find evidence that: (i) the sale of alcohol for on-premises consumption is associated with a sizeable increase in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents while sale for off-premises consumption may actually decrease accidents; and (ii) the sale of higher alcohol-content liquor presents greater risk to highway safety