This paper examines the role of employer provided health insurance in the retirement decisions of dual working couples. The near elderly have high-expected medical expenditures; therefore, availability of health insurance is an important factor in their retirement decisions. We determine if access to retiree health insurance for early retirement enables couples to time their retirement together %u2013 a behavior called %u201Cjoint retirement.%u201D We find that wives%u2019 retiree health insurance more than doubles the propensity to retire jointly, suggesting that health insurance is an important consideration in coordinating retirement decisions among couples. Even though retiree health insurance has a substantial effect on joint retirement, its effect on overall employment patterns is modest, accounting for a 2 percentage point fall in employment.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
12273.
Length: Date of creation: Jun 2006 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12273
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Find related papers by JEL classification: I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Private Pensions
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