IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/bejeap/v17y2017i3p21n8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Insurance Coverage and Risky Health Behaviors among Young Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Yörük Barış K.

    (Economics, SUNY Albany, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany 12222,, New YorkUSA)

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between health insurance coverage and risky health behaviors among young adults using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort (NLSY97). Before the Affordable Care Act required all employers in the United States to provide health insurance to employees’ children until the age of 26 (before September 2010), many health insurance contracts covered dependents up until age 19. Using a regression discontinuity design framework, I find that approximately 6 percent of young adults lose their health insurance coverage once they turn 19. I also find that although losing health insurance coverage at age 19 does not have any significant impact on smoking, marijuana use, and risky sexual behaviors among young adults, it decreases the probability of consuming 5 or more drinks a day by approximately 2 percentage points. These results are robust under several different parametric and non-parametric models and not sensitive to the selection of samples based on gender.

Suggested Citation

  • Yörük Barış K., 2017. "Health Insurance Coverage and Risky Health Behaviors among Young Adults," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 1-21, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:17:y:2017:i:3:p:21:n:8
    DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2016-0282
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2016-0282
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/bejeap-2016-0282?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ofer Malamud & Cristian Pop-Eleches, 2011. "Home Computer Use and the Development of Human Capital," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(2), pages 987-1027.
    2. Lundborg, Petter & Lindgren, Bjorn, 2002. "Risk Perceptions and Alcohol Consumption among Young People," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 165-183, September.
    3. Francesco Renna, 2008. "Alcohol Abuse, Alcoholism, and Labor Market Outcomes: Looking for the Missing Link," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 62(1), pages 92-103, October.
    4. David S. Lee & Thomas Lemieux, 2009. "Regression Discontinuity Designs In Economics," Working Papers 1118, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    5. Manning, Willard G, et al, 1987. "Health Insurance and the Demand for Medical Care: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(3), pages 251-277, June.
    6. Akosa Antwi, Yaa & Moriya, Asako S. & Simon, Kosali I., 2015. "Access to health insurance and the use of inpatient medical care: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act young adult mandate," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 171-187.
    7. David S. Lee & Thomas Lemieux, 2010. "Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 281-355, June.
    8. Imbens, Guido W. & Lemieux, Thomas, 2008. "Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 615-635, February.
    9. Barbaresco, Silvia & Courtemanche, Charles J. & Qi, Yanling, 2015. "Impacts of the Affordable Care Act dependent coverage provision on health-related outcomes of young adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 54-68.
    10. Ertan Yörük, Ceren & Yörük, Barış K., 2012. "The impact of drinking on psychological well-being: Evidence from minimum drinking age laws in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(10), pages 1844-1854.
    11. Dhaval Dave & Robert Kaestner, 2009. "Health insurance and ex ante moral hazard: evidence from Medicare," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 367-390, December.
    12. McCrary, Justin, 2008. "Manipulation of the running variable in the regression discontinuity design: A density test," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 698-714, February.
    13. Shao-Hsun Keng & Wallace Huffman, 2010. "Binge drinking and labor market success: a longitudinal study on young people," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(1), pages 303-322, January.
    14. Kolstad, Jonathan T. & Kowalski, Amanda E., 2012. "The impact of health care reform on hospital and preventive care: Evidence from Massachusetts," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 909-929.
    15. Michael Anderson & Carlos Dobkin & Tal Gross, 2012. "The Effect of Health Insurance Coverage on the Use of Medical Services," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, February.
    16. Amy Finkelstein & Sarah Taubman & Bill Wright & Mira Bernstein & Jonathan Gruber & Joseph P. Newhouse & Heidi Allen & Katherine Baicker, 2012. "The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 127(3), pages 1057-1106.
    17. Charles J. Courtemanche & Daniela Zapata, 2014. "Does Universal Coverage Improve Health? The Massachusetts Experience," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 36-69, January.
    18. Cardella, Eric & Depew, Briggs, 2014. "The effect of health insurance coverage on the reported health of young adults," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 406-410.
    19. Sarah Miller, 2012. "The Impact of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform on Health Care Use among Children," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 502-507, May.
    20. Guido Imbens & Karthik Kalyanaraman, 2012. "Optimal Bandwidth Choice for the Regression Discontinuity Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(3), pages 933-959.
    21. 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.
    22. Hahn, Jinyong & Todd, Petra & Van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2001. "Identification and Estimation of Treatment Effects with a Regression-Discontinuity Design," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(1), pages 201-209, January.
    23. Barış K. Yörük, 2016. "Health insurance coverage and self-reported health: new estimates from the NLSY97," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 285-295, September.
    24. Ehrlich, Isaac & Becker, Gary S, 1972. "Market Insurance, Self-Insurance, and Self-Protection," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(4), pages 623-648, July-Aug..
    25. Currie, Janet & Decker, Sandra & Lin, Wanchuan, 2008. "Has public health insurance for older children reduced disparities in access to care and health outcomes?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1567-1581, December.
    26. Balsa, Ana I. & Giuliano, Laura M. & French, Michael T., 2011. "The effects of alcohol use on academic achievement in high school," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-15, February.
    27. Shao-Hsun Keng & Wallace Huffman, 2010. "Erratum to: Binge drinking and labor market success: a longitudinal study on young people," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 833-833, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yörük Barış K., 2018. "Health insurance coverage and health care utilization: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act’s dependent coverage mandate," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Tu T. Nguyen & Barış K. Yörük, 2020. "Aging out of dependent coverage and the effects on the use of inpatient medical care," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 381-390, December.
    3. Aparna Soni, 2020. "The effects of public health insurance on health behaviors: Evidence from the fifth year of Medicaid expansion," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1586-1605, December.
    4. Barış K. Yörük, 2016. "Health insurance coverage and self-reported health: new estimates from the NLSY97," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 285-295, September.
    5. Yan Zheng & Tomislav Vukina, 2016. "Using the age-based insurance eligibility criterion to estimate moral hazard in medical care consumption," Financial Theory and Practice, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 40(3), pages 337-356.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yörük Barış K., 2018. "Health insurance coverage and health care utilization: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act’s dependent coverage mandate," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Jungtaek Lee, 2018. "Effects of health insurance coverage on risky behaviors," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 762-777, April.
    3. Barbaresco, Silvia & Courtemanche, Charles J. & Qi, Yanling, 2015. "Impacts of the Affordable Care Act dependent coverage provision on health-related outcomes of young adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 54-68.
    4. Ceren Ertan Yörük & Barış Yörük, 2015. "Alcohol consumption and risky sexual behavior among young adults: evidence from minimum legal drinking age laws," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(1), pages 133-157, January.
    5. Tu T. Nguyen & Barış K. Yörük, 2020. "Aging out of dependent coverage and the effects on the use of inpatient medical care," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 381-390, December.
    6. Charles Courtemanche & James Marton & Benjamin Ukert & Aaron Yelowitz & Daniela Zapata, 2018. "Early Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Care Access, Risky Health Behaviors, and Self‐Assessed Health," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(3), pages 660-691, January.
    7. Gaviria Garcés, Carlos Felipe & De la Mata, Dolores, 2016. "Losing health insurance when young: Impacts on usage of medical services and health in Colombia," Papeles en Salud 15113, Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social.
    8. Barış K. Yörük, 2016. "Health insurance coverage and self-reported health: new estimates from the NLSY97," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 285-295, September.
    9. Andrey Aistov & Ekaterina Aleksandrova & Christopher J. Gerry, 2021. "Voluntary private health insurance, health-related behaviours and health outcomes: evidence from Russia," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(2), pages 281-309, March.
    10. Dolores De la Mata & Carlos Felipe Gaviria, 2015. "Losing Health Insurance When Young: Impacts on Usage of Medical Services and Health," CINCH Working Paper Series 1508, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health, revised Aug 2015.
    11. Aparna Soni, 2020. "The effects of public health insurance on health behaviors: Evidence from the fifth year of Medicaid expansion," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1586-1605, December.
    12. Patrick Hullegie & Tobias J. Klein, 2010. "The effect of private health insurance on medical care utilization and self‐assessed health in Germany," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(9), pages 1048-1062, September.
    13. Bartalotti Otávio, 2019. "Regression Discontinuity and Heteroskedasticity Robust Standard Errors: Evidence from a Fixed-Bandwidth Approximation," Journal of Econometric Methods, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-26, January.
    14. Serakos Maria & Wolfe Barbara, 2016. "The ACA: Impacts on Health, Access, and Employment," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 201-259, December.
    15. Zhao, Weimin, 2019. "Does health insurance promote people's consumption? New evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 65-86.
    16. Dolores De La Mata, 2012. "The Effect Of Medicaid Eligibility On Coverage, Utilization, And Children'S Health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(9), pages 1061-1079, September.
    17. Loris Vergolini & Nadir Zanini, 2012. "How does aid matter? The effect of financial aid on university enrolment decisions," Working Papers 2012/7, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    18. Courtemanche, Charles & Friedson, Andrew & Koller, Andrew P. & Rees, Daniel I., 2019. "The affordable care act and ambulance response times," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    19. Benavente, José Miguel & Crespi, Gustavo & Figal Garone, Lucas & Maffioli, Alessandro, 2012. "The impact of national research funds: A regression discontinuity approach to the Chilean FONDECYT," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1461-1475.
    20. Loris Vergolini & Nadir Zanini, 2012. "How does aid matter? The effect of financial aid on university enrolment decisions," Working Papers 2012/7, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    alcohol consumption; health insurance coverage; marijuana use; smoking;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:17:y:2017:i:3:p:21:n:8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.