Including health insurance in poverty measurement: The impact of Massachusetts health reform on poverty.
We develop and implement what we believe is the first conceptually valid health-inclusive poverty measure (HIPM) - a measure that includes health care or insurance in the poverty needs threshold and health insurance benefits in family resources - and we discuss its limitations. Building on the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure, we construct a pilot HIPM for the under-65 population under ACA-like health reform in Massachusetts. This pilot demonstrates the practicality, face validity and value of a HIPM. Results suggest that public health insurance benefits and premium subsidies accounted for a substantial, one-third reduction in the health inclusive poverty rate.
School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College, City University of New York and CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, USA.
Sanders D
SD
Korenman
School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College, City University of New York and CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, USA. Electronic address: dahlia.remler@baruch.cuny.edu.
Dahlia K
DK
Remler
D018166:Health Care Reform; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008404:Massachusetts; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D011203:Poverty / Q000145:classification*; D014481:United States
Affordable Care Act; Health insurance; Health reform; Poverty; Poverty measurement