The Effects of the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Mandate on Parents' Labor Market Outcomes

Arbeitspapier

We examine the labor market impacts of the Affordable Care Act dependent mandate (ACA-DM), which has significantly increased dependent children's health insurance coverage through parents' employer-sponsored health benefits. Using data from the American Community Survey, we find that the ACA-DM reduced parents' annual wages by about $2,600. However, the probability of employment and working hours only decreased marginally. The back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that the magnitude of the estimated wage impact is similar to the increased insurance premium of a family plan due to the ACA-DM. These findings imply that a deadweight loss associated with the expansion of dependent health coverage is likely to be small as an increase in employers' labor costs is offset by a reduction in parents' wages without significant reductions in labor inputs.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 14089

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health ; Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions ; National Government Expenditures and Health
• Subject: The Affordable Care Act dependent mandate ; dependent health insurance coverage ; parents' labor market outcomes ; deadweight loss

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Kim, Seonghoon ; Koh, Kanghyock
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2021

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/232841
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET