| his dissertation focuses on the economics of health insurance. In the first essay, I take advantage of discontinuities in the structure of Wisconsin's Medicaid program to identify the effects of cost-sharing on insurance status, utilization, and health outcomes for low-income families. I use a three year administrative panel of enrollment data and health insurance claims for the universe of enrollees to inform my estimates. I find that an increase in the premium from zero to ten dollars results in 1.4 fewer months enrolled and reduces the probability of a one year enrollment spell by 12 percentage points, but other discrete changes in premium amounts do not affect enrollment. Copayments for emergency department visits of... |
