The COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented level of job losses in the U.S., where a job loss is also associated with the loss of health insurance. This paper uses data from the 2020 Household Pulse Survey (HPS) and difference-in-difference (DD) regressions to estimate the effect of the Medicaid expansion on anxiety and depression associated with job loss.
Estimates show that the respondents who live in expansion states are 96.6% (36.3%) more likely to have Medicaid coverage, and correspondingly, 14.2% (7.6%) less likely to have moderate to severe mental distress following their job loss (a family member's job loss) compared to those living in non-expansion states. Further explorations suggest that the economic security provided by Medicaid is as important (if not more) as the access or utilization to healthcare. The difference-in-difference-in-difference (DDD) estimates using just above and below the Medicare eligibility age (65) confirm these results.
We use cookies to provide you with an optimal website experience. This includes cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site as well as cookies that are only used for anonymous statistical purposes, for comfort settings or to display personalized content. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Please note that based on your settings, you may not be able to use all of the site's functions.
Cookie settings
These necessary cookies are required to activate the core functionality of the website. An opt-out from these technologies is not available.
In order to further improve our offer and our website, we collect anonymous data for statistics and analyses. With the help of these cookies we can, for example, determine the number of visitors and the effect of certain pages on our website and optimize our content.