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The Effects Of Health Insurance And Self-Insurance On Retirement Behavior

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Author Info
Eric French () (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
John Bailey Jones

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Abstract

Using the first estimable dynamic programming model of retirement behavior that accounts for both savings and uncertain medical expenses, we assess the importance of employer-provided health insurance and Medicare in determining retirement behavior. Including both of these features allows us to determine whether workers value employer-provided health insurance because the subsidy contained in the insurance lowers their average medical expenses, or because health insurance also reduces their medical expense risk. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we find that the reduction in expected medical expenses explains about 60% of a typical individualís valuation of health insurance, with the reduction in volatility explaining the remaining 40%. We find that for workers whose insurance is tied to their job, shifting the Medicare eligibility age to 67 will significantly delay retirement. However, we find that the plan to shift the Social Security normal retirement age to 67 will cause an even larger delay.

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Paper provided by Center for Retirement Research in its series Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College with number 2004-12.

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Date of creation: 21 Apr 2004
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Handle: RePEc:crr:crrwps:2004-12

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  34. Donna B. Gilleskie & David M. Blau, 2006. "Health insurance and retirement of married couples," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 935-953. [Downloadable!]
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Kopecky, Karen A. & Koreshkova, Tatyana, 2009. "The Impact of Medical and Nursing Home Expenses and Social Insurance Policies on Savings and Inequality," MPRA Paper 16197, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2009. "Why do the elderly save? the role of medical expenses," Working Paper Series WP-09-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Donna B. Gilleskie & David M. Blau, 2006. "Health insurance and retirement of married couples," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 935-953. [Downloadable!]
  4. Jody Schimmel, 2006. "Men With Health Insurance and the Women Who Love Them: the Effect of a Husband's Retirement on His Wife's Health Insurance Coverage," Working Papers wp131, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center. [Downloadable!]
  5. Motohiro Yogo, 2009. "Portfolio Choice in Retirement: Health Risk and the Demand for Annuities, Housing, and Risky Assets," NBER Working Papers 15307, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2006. "Differential Mortality, Uncertain Medical Expenses, and the Saving of Elderly Singles," NBER Working Papers 12554, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Mette Ejrnaes & Stefan Hochguertel, 2008. "Entrepreneurial Moral Hazard in Income Insurance," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 08-065/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  8. David Love, 2008. "The Effect of Marital Status and Children on Savings and Portfolio Choice," Department of Economics Working Papers 2008-13, Department of Economics, Williams College. [Downloadable!]
  9. Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2004. "On the distribution and dynamics of health care costs," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(6), pages 705-721. [Downloadable!]
  10. Wilbert van der Klaauw & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 2005. "Social Security and the Retirement and Savings Behavior of Low Income Households," PIER Working Paper Archive 05-020, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. John Bound & Todd Stinebrickner & Timothy Waidmann, 2007. "Health, Economic Resources and the Work Decisions of Older Men," NBER Working Papers 13657, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Mette Ejrnæs & Gabriel Stefan Hochguertel, 2008. "Entrepreneurial Moral Hazard in Income Insurance: Empirical Evidence from a Large Administrative Sample," CAM Working Papers 2008-02, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Centre for Applied Microeconometrics. [Downloadable!]
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