___________________________________

"Older Workers' Access to Employer-Sponsored Retiree Health
 Insurance, 2000-2004"
    US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Paper No.
    CES-WP-07-12


 Contact:  CHRISTINE EIBNER
             The RAND Corporation
   Email:  eibner@rand.org
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=351891

Co-Author:  ALICE M. ZAWACKI
             U.S. Census Bureau - Center for Economic Studies
   Email:  alice.m.zawacki@census.gov
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=676960

Co-Author:  ELAINE M. ZIMMERMAN
             Government of the United States of America -
             Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
   Email:  zimmerman.elaine@dol.gov
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=868915

Full Text:  http://ssrn.com/abstract=1015616

ABSTRACT: Using a multivariate framework, we analyze recent
trends in employer provision of retiree health insurance (RHI),
eligibility for new retirees, and retiree contribution
requirements. We also explore whether local labor market
characteristics such as the unemployment rate influence RHI
provision. Finally, we examine whether the Medicare Modernization
Act (MMA) was associated with diverging trends in RHI access for
Medicare-eligible and early retirees. Data come for the Medical
Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component (MEPS-IC). We find
that, while RHI provision to existing retirees remained stable,
eligibility for new retirees declined, and contribution
requirements increased between 2000 and 2004. The local labor
market had no effect on RHI provision. While early retiree
coverage was more common than coverage for Medicare-eligible
retirees, we did not find a divergence subsequent to MMA. These
results suggest growing financial instability for retirees, both
because RHI contribution requirements increased, and because
businesses dropped coverage for new retirees.
______________________________

"A Tax on Work for the Elderly: Medicare as a Secondary Payer"
    NBER Working Paper No. W13383


  Author:  GOPI SHAH GODA
             Harvard University - Scholars in Health Policy
             Research Program
   Email:  gopi.shah.goda@gmail.com
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=862425

 Contact:  JOHN B. SHOVEN
             Stanford University - Department of Economics,
             National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
   Email:  shoven@stanford.edu
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=15712

Co-Author:  SITA N. SLAVOV
             Occidental College - Department of Economics
   Email:  sslavov@oxy.edu
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=512659

Full Text:  http://ssrn.com/abstract=1012837

ABSTRACT: Medicare as a Secondary Payer (MSP) legislation
requires employer-sponsored health insurance to be a primary
payer for Medicare-eligible workers at firms with 20 or more
employees. While the legislation was developed to better target
Medicare services to individuals without access to
employer-sponsored insurance, MSP creates a significant implicit
tax on working beyond age 65. This implicit tax is approximately
15-20 percent at age 65 and increases to 45-70 percent by age 80.
Eliminating this implicit tax by making Medicare a primary payer
for all Medicare-eligible individuals could significantly
increase lifetime labor supply due to the high labor supply
elasticities of older workers. The extra income tax receipts from
such a policy would likely offset a large percentage of the
estimated costs of making Medicare a primary payer.
______________________________

"Health Insurance and Labor Markets: Concepts, Open Questions,
 and Data Needs"

 Contact:  A. BOWEN GARRETT
             The Urban Institute - Health Policy Center
   Email:  BGARRETT@SOCRATES.BERKELEY.EDU
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=235166

Co-Author:  MICHAEL CHERNEW
             Harvard University - Harvard Medical School
   Email:  chernew@hcp.med.harvard.edu
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=822420

Full Text:  http://ssrn.com/abstract=1007031

ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the recent economic research on the
relationship between health insurance and labor markets in the
U.S., with an emphasis on research that has emerged since
existing major reviews and the aim of identifying the types of
data that are needed for this research to progress. We focus on
the conceptual and empirical challenges that researchers face in
studying these relationships, the data that has allowed this
research to proceed, policy-relevant questions that need further
study, and the types of data that would help in obtaining better
answers to these questions.
______________________________

"The Effects of Retirement on Physical and Mental Health
 Outcomes"
    Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Research Paper Series
    No. 07-35


 Contact:  DHAVAL DAVE
             Bentley College, National Bureau of Economic
             Research (NBER), at New York
   Email:  DDAVE@GC.CUNY.EDU
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=288501

Co-Author:  INAS RASHAD
             Georgia State University - Department of Economics,
             National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
   Email:  irashsad@gsu.edu
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=536635

Co-Author:  JASMINA SPASOJEVIC
             Metropolitan College of New York - School for
             Public Affairs and Administration
   Email:  jspasojevic@metropolitan.edu
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=604121

Full Text:  http://ssrn.com/abstract=1024475

ABSTRACT: While numerous studies have examined how health affects
retirement behavior, few have analyzed the impact of retirement
on subsequent health outcomes. This study estimates the effects
of retirement on health status as measured by indicators of
physical and functional limitations, illness conditions, and
depression. The empirics are based on seven longitudinal waves of
the Health and Retirement Study, spanning 1992 through 2005. To
account for biases due to unobserved selection and endogeneity,
panel data methodologies are used. These are augmented by
counterfactual and specification checks to gauge the robustness
and plausibility of the estimates. Results indicate that complete
retirement leads to a 5-16 percent increase in difficulties
associated with mobility and daily activities, a 5-6 percent
increase in illness conditions, and 6-9 percent decline in mental
health, over an average post-retirement period of six years.
Models indicate that the effects tend to operate through
lifestyle changes including declines in physical activity and
social interactions. The adverse health effects are mitigated if
the individual is married and has social support, continues to
engage in physical activity post-retirement, or continues to work
part-time upon retirement. Some evidence also suggests that the
adverse effects of retirement on health may be larger in the
event of involuntary retirement. With an aging population
choosing to retire at earlier ages, both Social Security and
Medicare face considerable shortfalls. Eliminating the embedded
incentives in public and private pension plans, which discourage
work beyond some point, and enacting policies that prolong the
retirement age may be desirable, ceteris paribus. Retiring at a
later age may lessen or postpone poor health outcomes for older
adults, raise wellbeing, and reduce the utilization of health
care services, particularly acute care.
______________________________

"Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of the
 Uninsured: Analysis of the March 2007 Current Population Survey"
    EBRI Issue Brief, No. 310, October 2007


 Contact:  PAUL FRONSTIN
             Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)
   Email:  FRONSTIN@EBRI.ORG
Auth-Page:  http://ssrn.com/author=255140

Full Text:  http://ssrn.com/abstract=1022354

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the status of health insurance
coverage in the United States including historic data through
2006 on the number and percentage of nonelderly individuals with
and without health insurance. Specifically, the paper discusses
recent trends in health insurance coverage and some of their
causes; the determinants of having employment-based or other
types of health insurance coverage; the uninsured population and
the factors associated with being uninsured; and policy
implications. The final section of the report presents
conclusions. Data sources are discussed in the appendix.

The data are based primarily on the March 2007 Current Population
Survey (CPS), with some analysis based on other Census surveys.
The report focuses on the nonelderly population (under age 65)
because this group can receive health insurance coverage from a
number of different sources. The estimates presented in this
report focus solely on the nonelderly and differ from those
published by the Census Bureau. The nonelderly focus here is
because Medicare covers nearly all of the elderly population. As
a result of this difference between EBRI and Census Bureau
estimates, this report shows a higher percentage of uninsured in
the United States.