Research

Presentations: Southern Economic Association (2026), Economics Graduate Students’ Conference at Washington University (2026), University of Iowa Mini-Conference (2026), Institute for Research on Poverty Summer Research Workshop (2026), Midwest Economic Association Conference (2026)

Abstract: This paper investigates how long-term care risk facing grandparents impacts the economic mobility of children in the United States. I first show that the long-term care needs of grandparents impact both time and monetary investments families make in children. Motivated by these data patterns, I develop and estimate an overlapping generations model in which parents and grandparents interact with limited commitment to make long-term care and childcare choices, as well as investments in children. Model estimates imply that long-term care needs explain 12.2% of the intergenerational correlation in earnings. Policies that provide coverage for formal long-term care costs increase intergenerational mobility whereas policies that provide payments for informal caregivers decrease intergenerational mobility. These effects are driven by changes in the time and monetary investments families make in their children as a result of these policy changes. 

Presentations: Southern Economic Association (2025), Institute for Research on Poverty Summer Research Workshop (2025), Population Association of America (2025), Eastern Economic Association (2025), Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Research Conference (2024)

Abstract: Medicaid is the largest payer of long-term care services in the US. Retirees are subject to strict income and asset limits in Medicaid's eligibility determination. I evaluate the effect of relaxing Medicaid's asset test on Medicaid's costs and the welfare of aging parents and their adult children. I estimate a dynamic, non-cooperative framework in which aging parents and adult children interact. I account for informal care, housing, long-term care insurance demand, and nursing home entry, all of which impact both the likelihood an aging parent will use Medicaid and Medicaid's long-term care costs. I find that the welfare gains from relaxing Medicaid's asset limits are less than the increased costs to the Medicaid program. 

Abstract: Health insurance plans often bundle multiple household members into a single family contract. How should cost-sharing be allocated across family members? We study this in the context of deductibles, which can be aggregated across family members or applied to each member separately. We document that most employer-sponsored plans offer aggregate deductibles, while exchange plans offer a form of individual deductibles. A model calibrated using claims data finds that aggregate deductibles provide better risk protection, but individual deductibles are more effective against moral hazard. When deductibles are invariant to family size, the advantage of individual deductibles grows. Overall, individual deductibles generate around $400 in annual welfare gain to families.