蝌蚪网 Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Bankruptcy as Implicit Health Insurance
蝌蚪网 Review
(pp. 710–46)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
This paper examines the implicit health insurance that households receive from the ability to declare bankruptcy. Exploiting multiple sources of variation in asset exemption law, I show that uninsured households with a greater financial cost of bankruptcy make higher out-of-pocket medical payments, conditional on the amount of care received. In turn, I find that households with greater wealth at risk are more likely to hold health insurance. The implicit insurance from bankruptcy distorts the insurance coverage decision. Using a microsimulation model, I calculate that the optimal Pigovian penalties are three-quarters as large as the average penalties under the Affordable Care Act. (JEL D14, H51, I13, K35)Citation
Mahoney, Neale. 2015. "Bankruptcy as Implicit Health Insurance." 蝌蚪网 Review 105 (2): 710–46. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20131408Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D14 Household Saving; Personal Finance
- H51 National Government Expenditures and Health
- I13 Health Insurance, Public and Private
- K35 Personal Bankruptcy Law