The Welfare Gains of Age Related Optimal Income Taxation by Spencer Bastani, Soren Blomquist, Luca Micheletto :: SSRN

Using a calibrated overlapping generations model we quantify the welfare gains of an age dependent income tax. Agents face uncertainty regarding future abilities and can by saving transfer consumption across periods. The welfare gain of switching from an age-independent to an age-dependent nonlinear tax amounts in our benchmark model to around three percent of GDP. The gains are particularly high when there are restrictions on debt policy. The gains of using a nonlinear – as opposed to a linear tax are even larger. Surprisingly, it is of secondary importance to optimally choose the tax on interest income.

via The Welfare Gains of Age Related Optimal Income Taxation by Spencer Bastani, Soren Blomquist, Luca Micheletto :: SSRN.

More than one way to save on Medicaid – Health – AEI

Recent research suggests that instead of arbitrarily reducing access to prescriptions, policies focused on improving adherence—that is, ensuring that patients take their prescriptions as prescribed without missing doses—hold more promise for cost savings. A study conducted by economist William Encinosa and colleagues has demonstrated how increasing adherence among diabetes patients can reduce hospitalization rates and save on health care costs. Another study, by Dr. Michael Sokol and colleagues, examined adherence among high cholesterol and hypertension patients in addition to those with diabetes and found similar results. New techniques and technologies have been shown to effectively improve prescription drug adherence. Private insurers have particularly strong incentives to coordinate care in this way, as is the case for Medicaid managed care organizations that include pharmacy services

via More than one way to save on Medicaid – Health – AEI.

Education, Health and Mortality: Evidence from a Social Experiment by Costas Meghir, Marten Palme, Emilia Simeonova :: SSRN

We study the effect of a compulsory education reform in Sweden on adult health and mortality. The reform was implemented by municipalities between 1949 and 1962 as a social experiment and implied an extension of compulsory schooling from 7 or 8 years depending on municipality to 9 years nationally. We use detailed individual data on education, hospitalizations, labor force participation and mortality for Swedes born between 1946 and 1957. Individual level data allow us to study the effect of the education reform on three main groups of outcomes: (i) mortality until age 60 for different causes of death; (ii) hospitalization by cause and (iii) exit from the labor force primarily through the disability insurance program. The results show reduced male mortality up to age fifty for those assigned to the reform, but these gains were erased by increased mortality later on. We find similar patterns in the probability of being hospitalized and the average costs of inpatient care. Men who acquired more education due to the reform are less likely to retire early.

via Education, Health and Mortality: Evidence from a Social Experiment by Costas Meghir, Marten Palme, Emilia Simeonova :: SSRN.

Limited Life Expectancy, Human Capital and Health Investments: Evidence from Huntington Disease by Emily Oster, Ira Shoulson, E. Ray Dorsey :: SSRN

One of the most basic predictions of human capital theory is that life expectancy should impact human capital investment. Limited exogenous variation in life expectancy makes this difficult to test, especially in the contexts most relevant to the macroeconomic applications. We estimate the relationship between life expectancy and human capital investments using genetic variation in life expectancy driven by Huntington disease (HD), an inherited degenerative neurological disorder with large impacts on mortality. We compare investment levels for individuals who have ex ante identical risks of HD but learn (through early symptom development or genetic testing) that they do or do not carry the genetic mutation which causes the disease. We find strong qualitative support: individuals with more limited life expectancy complete less education and less job training. We estimate the elasticity of demand for college completion with respect to years of life expectancy of 0.40. This figure implies that differences in life expectancy explain about 10% of cross-country differences in college enrollment. Finally, we use smoking and cancer screening data to test the corollary that health capital is responsive to life expectancy.

via Limited Life Expectancy, Human Capital and Health Investments: Evidence from Huntington Disease by Emily Oster, Ira Shoulson, E. Ray Dorsey :: SSRN.

Income of the Aged Chartbook, 2010

Since 1941, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has periodically surveyed the aged to determine their economic status. The first national survey was conducted in 1963. In 1976, SSA’s Office of Research and Statistics began compiling a biennial series of reports on the income of the aged based on data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau in its Current Population Survey. These SSA reports are published under the title Income of the Population 55 or Older. The most recent edition of that publication is based on 2010 data, which, along with special tabulations, form the basis of this chartbook.

via Income of the Aged Chartbook, 2010.

Dying for Dollars: Health Equity in the Age of Reform by Max Siegel :: SSRN

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) into law. Almost instantly, fourteen state attorneys general joined together to file suit to challenge ACA in federal courts in Virginia and Florida. These states took action amid widespread political rhetoric that condemned Congress for shattering its constitutional limits by invading citizens’ private decisions to purchase health insurance. Few political trends are as divisive as the changing role of government in private health care coverage decisions. Yet, regardless of whether courts uphold ACA, the American debate continues to be distracted by marketplace rhetoric. This Comment argues that the American preoccupation with the business of health thwarts meaningful exploration of health equity. By challenging the process of health care financing and administration rather than focusing on more systemic forces in society, current health care reform ignores the most influential factors in health, such as preexisting socioeconomic differentials and basic social conditions. This Comment will extricate ACA’s regulatory outcomes from the politics surrounding it, offering comparisons with European health systems and urging policymakers to implement incremental, multisectoral advancements toward better health in the American body politic.

via Dying for Dollars: Health Equity in the Age of Reform by Max Siegel :: SSRN.

Tidbits from the Grantmakers In Health Annual Meeting: Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health – GrantWatch Blog

Speaker Alan Weil of the National Academy for State Health Policy was the first outside speaker up at the conference. He delivered the opening plenary speech on the question of “Is Equity an Attainable Health System Goal?” He first mentioned the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s 2009 National Healthcare Disparities Report; the problems seemed intractable. He also mentioned the October 2011 issue of Health Affairs, a thematic issue devoted to health disparities. In his speech, Weil included some reasons to be optimistic about making progress on solving the health equity problem in the United States and his suggestions of what foundations can do to help.

via Tidbits from the Grantmakers In Health Annual Meeting: Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health – GrantWatch Blog.

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Later-Life Economic Consequences by Alan Barrett, Yumiko Kamiya :: SSRN

The impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) on later-life health outcomes has been studied extensively and links with depression, anxiety and self-harm have been established. However, there has been relatively little research undertaken on the possible impact of CSA on later-life economic outcomes. Here, we explore whether older men who report having experienced CSA have weaker labour force attachment and lower incomes compared to other men. We use data from the first wave of the new Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) which is a nationally-representative survey of people aged 50 and over. We find that male victims of CSA are almost four times more likely to be out of the labour force due to sickness and disability. They also spent a higher proportion of their potential working lives out of the labour force for these reasons and have lower incomes. These effects remain even when we control for mental health difficulties and negative health behaviors. Among the policy implications are the need to be more aware of the complex effects of CSA when designing labour market activation strategies such as training for the unemployed. The results are also relevant in the legal context where compensation awards are determined.

via Childhood Sexual Abuse and Later-Life Economic Consequences by Alan Barrett, Yumiko Kamiya :: SSRN.

Long Term Impacts of Compensatory Preschool on Health and Behavior: Evidence from Head Start by Pedro Carneiro, Rita Ginja :: SSRN

This paper provides new estimates of the medium and long-term impacts of Head Start on the health and behavioral problems of its participants. We identify these impacts using discontinuities in the probability of participation induced by program eligibility rules. Our strategy allows us to identify the effect of Head Start for the set of individuals in the neighborhoods of multiple discontinuities, which vary with family size, state and year (as opposed to a smaller set of individuals neighboring a single discontinuity). Participation in the program reduces the incidence of behavioral problems, serious health problems and obesity of male children at ages 12 and 13. It also lowers depression and obesity among adolescents, and reduces engagement in criminal activities for young adults.

via Long Term Impacts of Compensatory Preschool on Health and Behavior: Evidence from Head Start by Pedro Carneiro, Rita Ginja :: SSRN.

Book Review / The Politics of Medicaid / Medicaid Everyone Can Count On: Public Choices for Equity and Efficiency

Book Review / The Politics of Medicaid / Medicaid Everyone Can Count On: Public Choices for Equity and Efficiency
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (2012) 37(2): 343-348;
Olson Laura Katz. The Politics of Medicaid. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. 416 pp. $32.50 cloth. Grannemann Thomas W. and Pauly Mark V.. Medicaid Everyone Can Count On: Public Choices for Equity and Efficiency. Washington, DC: AEI Press, 2010. 392 pp. $25.00 cloth.

http://jhppl.dukejournals.org/content/37/2/343.full.pdf+html?etoc