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The Impact of Youth Medicaid Eligibility on Adult Incarceration

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel Arenberg
  • Seth Neller
  • Sam Stripling

Abstract

This paper identifies an important spillover associated with public health insurance: reduced incarceration. In 1990, Congress passed legislation that increased Medicaid eligibility for individuals born after September 30, 1983. We show that Black children born just after the cutoff are 5 percent less likely to be incarcerated by age 28, driven primarily by a decrease in incarcerations connected to financially motivated offenses. Children of other races, who experienced almost no gain in Medicaid coverage as a result of the policy, demonstrate no such decline. We find that reduced incarceration in adulthood substantially offsets the initial costs of expanding eligibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Arenberg & Seth Neller & Sam Stripling, 2024. "The Impact of Youth Medicaid Eligibility on Adult Incarceration," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 121-156, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:16:y:2024:i:1:p:121-56
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20200785
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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