Health Insurance Coverage in Vulnerable and Minority Populations
This session focuses on health, healthcare use, and labor market effects of various public policies that impact health insurance demand and access. Rubalcaba and Juárez use data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) & Integrated Health Interview Series (IHIS) to examine the effects of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on the demand for private health insurance. The van der Goes and Santos research uses the IHIS and CPS to examine the factors influencing access to private health insurance and employer-provided health insurance and compare those factors for Hispanics and non-Hispanics before and after the ACA. Finally, Hockenberry and Wen use data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health to examine the effects of health insurance parity for mental health and substance abuse on employment, coverage, service use, and productivity. All papers proposed use nationally representative data sets and quasi-experimental econometric methods to assess the impact of these policies on the outcomes of interest. Together these papers build a narrative around health insurance demand and access at the intersection of health and labor.