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It's About Time: Effects of the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Mandate on Time Use

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  • Colman, Gregory

    (Pace University)

  • Dave, Dhaval M.

    (Bentley University)

Abstract

One of the main purposes of recent healthcare reform (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - ACA) in the U.S. is to enable Americans to make more productive use of their time. We examine how the ACA's dependent care coverage mandate (DCM) affected young adults' time allocation. Based on more accurate measures from the American Time Use Surveys and difference-in-difference methods, we first confirm that the DCM reduced labor supply. The question then arises, what have these adults done with the extra time? We provide some of the first evidence on this issue. Estimates suggest that the DCM has reduced job-lock, as well as the duration of the average doctor's visit, including time spent waiting for as well as receiving medical care, among persons ages 19-25. The latter effect is consistent with substitution from hospital ER utilization to more routine physician care. The extra time has gone into socializing, and to a lesser extent, into educational activities and job search. A related question is whether these changes have made young adults better off. We find that the availability of insurance and change in work time appear to have increased their subjective well-being, enabling them to spend time on activities they view as more meaningful than those they did before insurance became available.

Suggested Citation

  • Colman, Gregory & Dave, Dhaval M., 2016. "It's About Time: Effects of the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Mandate on Time Use," IZA Discussion Papers 9710, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9710
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    1. Joel C. Cantor & Alan C. Monheit & Derek DeLia & Kristen Lloyd, 2012. "The Role of Federal and State Dependent Coverage Eligibility Policies on the Health Insurance Status of Young Adults," NBER Working Papers 18254, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    6. Gary Solon & Steven J. Haider & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2015. "What Are We Weighting For?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 301-316.
    7. Colman, Gregory & Dave, Dhaval, 2013. "Exercise, physical activity, and exertion over the business cycle," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 11-20.
    8. Miller, Sarah, 2012. "The effect of insurance on emergency room visits: An analysis of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 893-908.
    9. Depew, Briggs, 2015. "The effect of state dependent mandate laws on the labor supply decisions of young adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 123-134.
    10. 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.
    11. David J G Slusky, 2017. "Significant Placebo Results in Difference-in-Differences Analysis: The Case of the ACA’s Parental Mandate," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 43(4), pages 580-603, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fone, Zachary S. & Friedson, Andrew I. & Lipton, Brandy & Sabia, Joseph J., 2020. "The Dependent Coverage Mandate Took a Bite Out of Crime," IZA Discussion Papers 12968, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Barış K. Yörük & Linna Xu, 2019. "Impact of the ACA’s Dependent Coverage Mandate on Health Insurance and Labor Market Outcomes Among Young Adults: Evidence from Regression Discontinuity Design," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(1), pages 58-86, January.
    3. Dhaval Dave & Monica Deza & Brady Horn, 2021. "Prescription drug monitoring programs, opioid abuse, and crime," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(3), pages 808-848, January.
    4. Dhaval Dave & Bo Feng & Michael F. Pesko, 2019. "The effects of e‐cigarette minimum legal sale age laws on youth substance use," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 419-436, March.
    5. Reagan Baughman & Dhaval Dave & Angela Dills, 2019. "Introduction to the Symposium on the Extended Effects of the Affordable Care Act," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(1), pages 1-6, January.
    6. Laura Connolly & Matt Hampton & Otto Lenhart, 2024. "Labor mobility and the Affordable Care Act: Heterogeneous impacts of the preexisting conditions provision," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 157-191, January.
    7. Pinka Chatterji & Xiangshi Liu & Barış K. Yörük, 2019. "Effects of the 2010 Affordable Care Act Dependent Care Provision on Military Participation Among Young Adults," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(1), pages 87-111, January.
    8. Joelle Abramowitz, 2018. "Planning parenthood: the Affordable Care Act young adult provision and pathways to fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1097-1123, October.
    9. Jie Ma & Kosali I. Simon, 2020. "Heterogeneous Effects Of Health Insurance On Birth Related Outcomes: Unpacking Compositional Vs. Direct Changes," NBER Working Papers 27728, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Aparna Soni & Taryn Morrissey, 2022. "The effects of Medicaid expansion on home production and childcare," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(3), pages 931-950, January.
    11. Pinka Chatterji & Xiangshi Liu & Barış K. Yörük, 2022. "Health insurance and the boomerang generation: Did the 2010 ACA dependent care provision affect geographic mobility and living arrangements among young adults?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(2), pages 243-262, April.
    12. Michael S. Kofoed & Wyatt J. Frasier, 2019. "[Job] Locked and [Un]loaded: The Effect of the Affordable Care Act Dependency Mandate on Reenlistment in the U.S. Army," Upjohn Working Papers 19-300, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    13. Pinka Chatterji & Xiangshi Liu & Barış K. Yörük, 2019. "The effects of the 2010 Affordable Care Act dependent care provision on family structure and public program participation among young adults," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1133-1161, December.
    14. Juergen Jung & Vinish Shrestha, 2018. "The Affordable Care Act And College Enrollment Decisions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(4), pages 1980-2009, October.
    15. 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.
    16. Bottasso, Anna & Cerruti, Gianluca & Conti, Maurizio & Stancanelli, Elena G. F., 2022. "The Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Labour Supply and Other Uses of Time," IZA Discussion Papers 15415, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Otto Lenhart & Vinish Shrestha, 2016. "The Effect of the Health Insurance Mandate on Labor Market Activity and Time Allocation: Evidence from the Federal Dependent Coverage Provision," Working Papers 2016-10, Towson University, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2016.
    18. Jie Ma & Kosali Simon, 2021. "Heterogeneous effects of health insurance on birth related outcomes: Unpacking compositional versus direct changes," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 626-640, July.
    19. James Bailey & Gregory Colman & Dhaval Dave, 2022. "The Evolution of Job Lock in the U.S.: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-13, July.
    20. Kelly, Inas R. & Doytch, Nadia & Dave, Dhaval, 2019. "How does body mass index affect economic growth? A comparative analysis of countries by levels of economic development," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 58-73.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    health insurance; labor supply; time use; leisure; medical care; Affordable Care Act; waiting time; well-being; work;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • H0 - Public Economics - - General

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