Will Work For Health Insurance?: The Effects of the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Expansion on the Health Insurance Coverage and Labor Supply of Young Adults with Disabilities

Abstract

Among the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 that were implemented earliest was an expansion in the definition of dependents on private family health insurance plans. This provision has been shown to have increased coverage in young adults overall, however, its differential effect on young people with disabilities is unknown (Antwi, et al., 2012; Cantor, et al., 2012; Sommers, et al., 2013; O'Hara & Brault, 2013). Also, evidence from past expansions has been linked to decreases in the labor supply (Depew, 2012; Hulbert, 2012). Because of programs like Medicare and Medicaid for people with disabilities, theory suggests that people with disabilities may have different labor supply outcomes because of the provision. Using data from the 2008-2011 American Community Surveys, I find that young adults with disabilities experienced similar increases in coverage as those with no disabilities; both increased coverage about 4.5 percentage points. While those with no disabilities had a small decrease in number of hours worked, I detected no change for those with a disability.