title: Tax incentives as a solution to the uninsured: evidence from the self-employed.
abstract: Between 1996 and 2003, a series of amendments were made to the Tax Reform Act of 1986 that gradually increased the tax deduction for health insurance purchases by the self-employed (SE) from 25 to 100 percent. We study how these changes have influenced the likelihood that a SE person has health insurance coverage as the policyholder. The Current Population Survey is used to construct a data set corresponding to 1995-2005. Both the difference-in-differences and price elasticity of demand estimates suggest that the series of tax deductions did not provide sufficient incentives for the SE to obtain health insurance coverage.
authors.affiliation: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA IZA, Bonn, Germany ggumus@fau.edu.
authors.forename: Gulcin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gumus
authors.affiliation: Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Tracy L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Regan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009042:Motivation; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013660:Taxes / Q000191:economics*
keywords: CPS; elasticity; health insurance; self-employment