title: The long-term impacts of Medicaid exposure in early childhood: Evidence from the program's origin.
abstract: This paper examines the long-term impact of exposure to Medicaid in early childhood on adult health and economic status. The staggered timing of Medicaid's adoption across the states created meaningful variation in cumulative exposure to Medicaid for birth cohorts that are now in adulthood. Analyses of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics suggest exposure to Medicaid in early childhood (age 0-5) is associated with statistically significant and meaningful improvements in adult health (age 25-54), and this effect is only seen in subgroups targeted by the program. Results for economic outcomes are imprecise and we are unable to come to definitive conclusions. Using separate data we find evidence of two mechanisms that could plausibly link Medicaid's introduction to long-term outcomes: contemporaneous increases in health services utilization for children and reductions in family medical debt.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Administration, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, 3310 School of Public Health Building, College Park, MD 20742, United States. Electronic address: mhb@umd.edu.
authors.forename: Michel H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Boudreaux
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health and Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware Street SE, 15-213 PWB MMC 729, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States. Electronic address: egolber@umn.edu.
authors.forename: Ezra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Golberstein
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware Street SE, 15-232 PWB MMC 729, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States. Electronic address: mcalp004@umn.edu.
authors.forename: Donna D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: McAlpine
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000067576:Child Health; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Health and human capital; Medicaid