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Including health insurance in poverty measurement: The impact of Massachusetts health reform on poverty

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  • Korenman, Sanders D.
  • Remler, Dahlia K.

Abstract

We develop and implement what we believe is the first conceptually valid health-inclusive poverty measure (HIPM) – a measure that includes health care or insurance in the poverty needs threshold and health insurance benefits in family resources – and we discuss its limitations. Building on the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure, we construct a pilot HIPM for the under-65 population under ACA-like health reform in Massachusetts. This pilot demonstrates the practicality, face validity and value of a HIPM. Results suggest that public health insurance benefits and premium subsidies accounted for a substantial, one-third reduction in the health inclusive poverty rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Korenman, Sanders D. & Remler, Dahlia K., 2016. "Including health insurance in poverty measurement: The impact of Massachusetts health reform on poverty," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 27-35.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:50:y:2016:i:c:p:27-35
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2016.09.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Patricia Ruggles, 2008. "Poverty Measurement and Politics: Why Is It So Hard to Change the Way We Measure Poverty?," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(3), pages 591-599.
    2. Sanders Korenman & Dahlia Remler, 2013. "Rethinking Elderly Poverty: Time for a Health Inclusive Poverty Measure?," NBER Working Papers 18900, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    7. Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2012. "Winning the War: Poverty from the Great Society to the Great Recession," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 43(2 (Fall)), pages 133-200.
    8. Burkhauser, Richard V. & Larrimore, Jeff & Simon, Kosali I., 2012. "A "Second Opinion" on the Economic Health of the American Middle Class," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(1), pages 7-32, March.
    9. Richard V. Burkhauser & Jeff Larrimore & Kosali Simon, 2013. "Measuring The Impact Of Valuing Health Insurance On Levels And Trends In Inequality And How The Affordable Care Act Of 2010 Could Affect Them," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 31(4), pages 779-794, October.
    10. Richard V. Burkhauser & Kosali I. Simon, 2010. "Measuring the Impact of Health Insurance on Levels and Trends in Inequality," NBER Working Papers 15811, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Patricia Ruggles, 2008. "Poverty Measurement and Politics: Why Is It So Hard to Change the Way We Measure Poverty? ," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(3), pages 591-599.
    12. Sommers, Benjamin D. & Oellerich, Donald, 2013. "The poverty-reducing effect of Medicaid," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 816-832.
    13. Rebecca M. Blank, 2008. "Presidential address: How to improve poverty measurement in the United States," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 233-254.
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    Cited by:

    1. Burkhauser, Richard V. & Corinth, Kevin & Elwell, James & Larrimore, Jeff, 2019. "Evaluating the Success of President Johnson's War on Poverty: Revisiting the Historical Record Using a Full-Income Poverty Measure," IZA Discussion Papers 12855, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Richard V. Burkhauser & Kevin Corinth & James Elwell & Jeff Larrimore, 2019. "Evaluating the Success of President Johnson’s War on Poverty: Revisiting the Historical Record Using an Absolute Full-Income Poverty Measure," NBER Working Papers 26532, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Haiyan Jia & Xiaoyu Sai & Yangyue Su & Ying Huang, 2022. "Measurement and Decomposition of the Health Poverty of Rural Residents in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Korenman, Sanders & Remler, Dahlia K. & Hyson, Rosemary T., 2021. "Health insurance and poverty of the older population in the United States: The importance of a health inclusive poverty measure," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    5. Zou, Wei & Cheng, Bo, 2023. "Can rural health insurance coverage improve educational attainment? Evidence from new cooperative medical scheme in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 689-704.
    6. Bruce D. Meyer & Derek Wu, 2018. "The Poverty Reduction of Social Security and Means-Tested Transfers," NBER Working Papers 24567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Jingjing Zhou & Yaoyu Zhang & Yong Sha & Jianfang Zhou & Hang Ren & Xin Shen & Hui Xu, 2022. "The Effect of the “Triple-Layer Medical Security” Policy on the Vulnerability as Expected Poverty of Rural Households: Evidence from Yunnan Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-22, October.
    8. Yuhua Li & Xiheng Gong & Jingyi Zhang & Ziwei Xiang & Chengjun Liao, 2022. "The Impact of Mobile Payment on Household Poverty Vulnerability: A Study Based on CHFS2017 in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-20, October.
    9. Sanders Korenman & Dahlia K. Remler & Rosemary T. Hyson, 2019. "Accounting for the Impact of Medicaid on Child Poverty," NBER Working Papers 25973, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Poverty measurement; Health insurance; Affordable Care Act; Health reform; Poverty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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