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The Efficiency of a Group-Specific Mandated Benefit Revisited: The Effect of Infertility Mandates

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  • Joanna N. Lahey

    (Texas A & M University)

Abstract

This paper examines the labor market effects of state health insurance mandates that increase the cost of employing a demographically identifiable group. State mandates requiring that health insurance plans cover infertility treatment raise the relative cost of insuring older women of child-bearing age. Empirically, wages in this group are unaffected, but their total labor input decreases. Workers do not value infertility mandates at cost, and so will not take wage cuts in exchange, leading employers to decrease their demand for this affected and identifiable group. Differences in the empirical effects of mandates found in the literature are explained by a model including variations in the elasticity of demand, moral hazard, ability to identify a group, and adverse selection.

Suggested Citation

  • Joanna N. Lahey, 2011. "The Efficiency of a Group-Specific Mandated Benefit Revisited: The Effect of Infertility Mandates," Upjohn Working Papers 11-175, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:11-175
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    Cited by:

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    2. Depew, Briggs & Bailey, James, 2015. "Did the Affordable Care Act's dependent coverage mandate increase premiums?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-14.
    3. Gershoni, Naomi & Low, Corinne, 2021. "The power of time: The impact of free IVF on Women’s human capital investments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Bailey, James, 2013. "Who pays for obesity? Evidence from health insurance benefit mandates," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 287-289.
    5. Yaa Akosa Antwi & Johanna Catherine Maclean, 2017. "State Health Insurance Mandates and Labor Market Outcomes: New Evidence on Old Questions," NBER Working Papers 23203, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Yaa Akosa Antwi & Asako S. Moriya & Kosali Simon, 2013. "Effects of Federal Policy to Insure Young Adults: Evidence from the 2010 Affordable Care Act's Dependent-Coverage Mandate," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 1-28, November.
    7. Conor Lennon, 2019. "Employer‐Sponsored Health Insurance and the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from the Employer Mandate," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(3), pages 742-765, January.
    8. Kim, Seonghoon & Koh, Kanghyock, 2021. "The Effects of the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Mandate on Parents' Labor Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 14089, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Gopi Shah Goda & Monica Farid & Jay Bhattacharya, 2016. "The Incidence of Mandated Health Insurance: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act Dependent Care Mandate," NBER Working Papers 21846, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Webber, Douglas, 2022. "Government regulation and wages: Evidence from continuing coverage mandates," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Lennon, Conor, 2022. "Employer-sponsored health insurance and labor market outcomes for men in same-sex couples: Evidence from the advent of pre-exposure prophylaxis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    12. Maclean, J. Catherine & Webber, Douglas A., 2019. "Government Regulation and Lifecycle Wages: Evidence from Continuing Coverage Mandates," IZA Discussion Papers 12464, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. James Bailey & Douglas Webber, 2018. "Health Insurance Benefit Mandates and Firm Size Distribution," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 85(2), pages 577-595, June.
    14. Andersen, Martin, 2015. "Heterogeneity and the effect of mental health parity mandates on the labor market," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 74-84.
    15. Joelle Abramowitz, 2014. "Turning back the ticking clock: the effect of increased affordability of assisted reproductive technology on women’s marriage timing," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 603-633, April.
    16. Kyung Min Lee & Chanup Jeung, 2021. "The incidence of the healthcare costs of chronic conditions," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 473-493, December.
    17. Conor Lennon, 2018. "Who pays for the medical costs of obesity? New evidence from the employer mandate," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(12), pages 2016-2029, December.
    18. Kim, Seonghoon & Koh, Kanghyock, 2022. "The effects of the affordable care act dependent coverage mandate on parents’ labor market outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    19. Joelle Abramowitz, 2017. "Assisted Reproductive Technology and Women’s Timing of Marriage and Childbearing," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 100-117, March.
    20. Li, Xiaoxue & Ye, Jinqi, 2017. "The spillover effects of health insurance benefit mandates on public insurance coverage: Evidence from veterans," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 45-60.
    21. Lennon, Conor, 2021. "Are the costs of employer-sponsored health insurance passed on to workers at the individual level?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    22. James Bailey & Nathan Blascak, 2016. "The effect of state health insurance benefit mandates on premiums and employee contributions," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(14), pages 1042-1046, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labor supply; infertility; health insurance; health insurance mandates;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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