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Disability Insurance Income Saves Lives

Author

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  • Alexander Gelber
  • Timothy Moore
  • Zhuan Pei
  • Alexander Strand

Abstract

We show that higher payments from US Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) reduce mortality. Using administrative data on new DI beneficiaries, we exploit discontinuities in the benefit formula through a regression kink design. We estimate that $1,000 more in annual DI payments decreases the annual mortality rate of lower-income beneficiaries by approximately 0.18–0.35 percentage points, implying an elasticity of mortality with respect to DI income of around −0.6 to −1.0. We find no robust evidence of an effect of DI income on the mortality of higher-income beneficiaries.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Gelber & Timothy Moore & Zhuan Pei & Alexander Strand, 2023. "Disability Insurance Income Saves Lives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(11), pages 3156-3185.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/725172
    DOI: 10.1086/725172
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    Cited by:

    1. Ahammer, Alexander & Packham, Analisa, 2025. "Disability insurance screening and worker health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    2. Black, Bernard & French, Eric & McCauley, Jeremy & Song, Jae, 2024. "The effect of disability insurance receipt on mortality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    3. Sebastian Becker & Annica Gehlen & Johannes Geyer & Peter Haan, 2024. "Income Effects of Disability Benefits," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0050, Berlin School of Economics.
    4. Yaming Cao & Björn Fischer-Weckemann & Johannes Geyer & Nicolas Ziebarth, 2026. "Fundamentally Reforming the DI System: Evidence from Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2157, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2024. "Sick Leave and Medical Leave in the United States: A Categorization and Recent Trends," IZA Policy Papers 206, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Annica Gehlen & Sebastian Becker & Johannes Geyer & Peter Haan, 2025. "Incentive Effects of Disability Benefits," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 25148, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    7. Philip Armour & Catria Gadwah‐Meaden, 2025. "Veteran Affairs disability compensation: Likely the U.S.’s largest disability program, but what do we know about its impacts on service‐disabled veterans?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 304-314, January.

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