Keywords

unemployment, separation, health insurance job search

Abstract

We study the interrelationship between employment separation and insurance coverage. We first document that employment separation is associated with large reductions in insurance coverage, even conditioning on underlying tastes for insurance.We then show that reducing the cost of insurance through state laws mandating continued access to employerprovided health insurance for the non-employed increases the likelihood of having insurance after separating from a job by 6.7%. These mandates also increase the number of individuals who separate and the total amount of time spent jobless. Finally, at least some of this increased non-employment appears to be spent in productive job search as the availability of continuation coverage is related to significant wage gains among those who separate from their jobs.

Original Publication Citation

“Employment Separation and Health Insurance Coverage.” 1997. Journal of Public Economics, 66(3): 349-382 (with Jonathan Gruber). https://doi:10.1016/S0047-2727(96)01621-0

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

1997

Publisher

Journal of Public Economics

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Finance

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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