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Effects of dependent coverage mandate on household precautionary savings: Evidence from the 2010 Affordable Care Act

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  • Lee, Daeyong

Abstract

This article examines the effects of the health insurance coverage mandate for young adults on household precautionary savings by focusing on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. The ACA dependent coverage mandate allows young adults to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans until their 26th birthday. Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation data, I find that the ACA mandate reduced precautionary savings for households with both parental employer-sponsored health insurance and dependent children aged 19–25 years. These households significantly reduced liquid assets by $897 after ACA, but they did not reduce savings in tax-deferred accounts or real estate assets.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Daeyong, 2016. "Effects of dependent coverage mandate on household precautionary savings: Evidence from the 2010 Affordable Care Act," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 32-37.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:147:y:2016:i:c:p:32-37
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2016.08.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Lee, Daeyong, 2018. "Effects of health insurance coverage on household financial portfolio: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 176-179.
    2. Nathan Blascak & Vyacheslav Mikhed, 2023. "Health Insurance and Young Adult Financial Distress," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(2), pages 393-423, March.
    3. Michael R. Richards & Sebastian Tello‐Trillo, 2021. "Private coverage mandates, business cycles, and provider treatment intensity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1200-1221, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Affordable Care Act; Dependent coverage mandate; Precautionary savings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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