Working Papers
"From Healthcare to Household Welfare: Extended Postpartum Medicaid Coverage and Household Spending" JMP (joint with Jessica Kiser)
Abstract:
We study how extending coverage of Medicaid can impact household spending and resource reallocation. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), temporarily mandated continuous Medicaid enrollment during the COVID-19 public health emergency, which effectively extended coverage for all women enrolled in Medicaid during pregnancy. Using monthly product-level purchase records from the NielsenIQ Consumer Panel (2019–2020), linked to state-specific Medicaid income thresholds, we analyze how spending patterns of households with newborns responded to FFCRA. Difference-in-differences estimates show that extended postpartum coverage roughly doubled spending on baby care products and increased total household expenditures by about 21 percent. The increase in spending occurs after 60 days postpartum, providing evidence that coverage extension acted as an expansion to the budget constraint. Further, we find that the increase in household resources translates to an increase in healthcare utilization using data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey (PRAMS). Taken together, the results show how a major public insurance program can shape household resource allocation beyond healthcare use alone.
"Public Long-term Care Insurance and Female Labor Force Participation: Evidence from China’s Pilot Program" Under Review
Abstract:
The global rise in aging populations has heightened the need for long-term care (LTC), presenting significant financial challenges for elderly households. In response to China’s rapidly aging population and the decline in traditional family-based care, the government launched a Long-term Care Insurance (LTCI) pilot program in 2016, expanding to cover 49 cities by 2020. Despite existing research on LTCI impacts, there has been limited exploration of its spillover effects on non-elderly populations. This study addresses this gap by examining how China’s LTCI pilot program affects the labor market outcomes of adult children of eligible elders. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and employing a staggered difference-in-differences design based on Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021), I find an 11-15 percent increase in employment probability for female adult children following the program’s launch, with especially robust effects among lower-educated and older women.
Work in Progress
"Do school-based health centers affect juvenile crime and delinquency?" (joint with Lindsey Bullinger, Analisa Packham)