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Does health insurance reduce illness-related worker absenteeism?

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  • Xiao Xu
  • Gail A. Jensen

Abstract

The objective of this article is to examine whether having health insurance reduces illness-related absenteeism among older workers. A nationally representative sample of 1780 workers in the United States, aged 52--64, are drawn from the 2004--2006 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Binary logistic regressions and censored Tobit models are estimated for workers’ likelihood of missing work days due to illness and the number of illness-related work days missed, respectively, while explicitly addressing the possibility of insurance-selection effects. The findings suggest that over a 12-month period, older workers without health insurance are as likely as insured workers to miss work days due to illness and there are no differences in the number of days missed between insured and uninsured workers. However, there is strong evidence that poor baseline health, onset of new diseases and longer hospitalization significantly increase an older worker's absenteeism at work. These results suggest that having health insurance does not affect illness-related absenteeism among older workers in the US. Future research examining other aspects of worker productivity, such as ‘presenteeism’, and the longer term effects of insurance on productivity can extend our understanding of the role of health insurance in the workplace.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiao Xu & Gail A. Jensen, 2012. "Does health insurance reduce illness-related worker absenteeism?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(35), pages 4591-4603, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:44:y:2012:i:35:p:4591-4603
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2011.593498
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Palmer, Edward, 2006. "Public policy for pensions, health and sickness insurance," Documentos de Proyectos 3680, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    2. Palmer, Edward, 2006. "Public policy for pensions, health and sickness insurance: potential lessons from Sweden for Latin America," Financiamiento para el Desarrollo 5156, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    3. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3309-3416 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Currie, Janet & Madrian, Brigitte C., 1999. "Health, health insurance and the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 50, pages 3309-3416, Elsevier.
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    Cited by:

    1. Grumstrup, Ethan & Mobarak Hossain, Md. & Mukhopadhyay, Sankar & Shapoval, Olga, 2019. "The Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Workplace Absenteeism of Overweight and Obese Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 12617, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Dizioli, Allan & Pinheiro, Roberto, 2016. "Health insurance as a productive factor," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-24.

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