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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Melissa A. Boyle, PhD, Economics, College of the Holy Cross, Box 191A, One College Street, Worcester, MA 01610, 508-793-2334, mboyle@holycross.edu and Joanna N. Lahey, PhD, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, 2129 Allen Building, 4220 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4220.

This paper examines the impact of a public health insurance expansion on the labor supply decisions of older workers. We exploit a change in government health care coverage for United States veterans to test the extent to which public insurance leads to reductions in labor supply and the form that such reductions take. A major expansion in both the services provided and the population covered by the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system allows us to estimate the impact of public health care on employment, hours worked and retirement. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we examine the effects of health care coverage on labor force participation by comparing the work decisions of veterans and non-veterans before and after the VA expansion. Results indicate that older workers are significantly more likely to retire as a result of becoming eligible for public insurance, and are also more likely to move to part-time work. These results are specific to the veteran population, but allow us to make inferences about the impact of public health care on the population of older workers in general. In addition, they suggest a partial explanation for different retirement patterns across countries with and without universal health care.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess and describe labor market effects of expanded health care access for older workers.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered