title: Associations between minimum wage policy and access to health care: evidence from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1996-2007.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined whether minimum wage policy is associated with access to medical care among low-skilled workers in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used multilevel logistic regression to analyze a data set consisting of individual-level indicators of uninsurance and unmet medical need from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and state-level ecological controls from the US Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and several other sources in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between 1996 and 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher state-level minimum wage rates were associated with significantly reduced odds of reporting unmet medical need after control for the ecological covariates, substate region fixed effects, and individual demographic and health characteristics (odds ratio = 0.853; 95% confidence interval = 0.750, 0.971). Minimum wage rates were not significantly associated with being uninsured.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher minimum wages may be associated with a reduced likelihood of experiencing unmet medical need among low-skilled workers, and do not appear to be associated with uninsurance. These findings appear to refute the suggestion that minimum wage laws have detrimental effects on access to health care, as opponents of the policies have suggested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. kpm25@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Kelly P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: McCarrier
authors.forename: Frederick J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ralston
authors.forename: Diane P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States