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The Great Equalizer: Medicare and the Geography of Consumer Financial Strain

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham
  • Maxim Pinkovskiy
  • Jacob Wallace

Abstract

We use a five percent sample of Americans’ credit bureau data, combined with a regression discontinuity approach, to estimate the effect of universal health insurance at age 65—when most Americans become eligible for Medicare—at the national, state, and local level. We find a 30 percent reduction in debt collections—and a two-thirds reduction in the geographic variation in collections—with limited effects on other financial outcomes. The areas that experienced larger reductions in collections debt at age 65 were concentrated in the Southern United States, and had higher shares of black residents, people with disabilities, and for-profit hospitals.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham & Maxim Pinkovskiy & Jacob Wallace, 2023. "The Great Equalizer: Medicare and the Geography of Consumer Financial Strain," NBER Working Papers 31223, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31223
    Note: CF EH LS
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Christa Gibbs & Benedict Guttman-Kenney & Donghoon Lee & Scott Nelson & Wilbert van der Klaauw & Jialan Wang, 2025. "Consumer Credit Reporting Data," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 63(2), pages 598-636, June.
    3. Francis Wong & Kate Pennington & Amir Kermani, 2023. "The Impacts of Racial Differences in Economic Challenges on Housing, Wealth, and Economic Security Among OASI Beneficiaries," CES Technical Notes Series 23-17, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    4. Tal Gross & Timothy J. Layton & Daniel Prinz, 2022. "The Liquidity Sensitivity of Healthcare Consumption: Evidence from Social Security Payments," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 175-190, June.
    5. Samantha E. Clark & Ruth Etzioni & Jerry Radich & Zachary Marcum & Anirban Basu, 2023. "The price elasticity of Gleevec in patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia enrolled in Medicare Part D: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Papers 2305.06076, arXiv.org.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G5 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private

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