Minimum wages and health insurance, health care access and health care utilization

While the majority of early research on minimum wages focused on employment and monetary effects, a small number of recent studies have examined potential effects on health outcomes. This study contributes to this literature by examining the role of health insurance, health care access and health care utilization as potential pathways underlying the relationship between minimum wages and health for low-educated individuals. By analyzing Current Population Survey data for the years 1989 to 2009, a period with more than 370 state-level minimum wage increases, I find that higher minimum wages increase health insurance coverage, in particular individually purchased insurance, among low-educated individuals. By estimating data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for the same period, I furthermore provide evidence for improvements in health care access/affordability and increased health care utilization following minimum wage increases. When examining the effects on subgroups of the population, I provide evidence that the effects are strongest for low-educated people between the ages 18 and 29, a group that is shown to most likely earn minimum wages.