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The Impact of Children's Access to Public Health Insurance on Their Cognitive Development and Behavior

Author

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  • Hull, Marie C.

    (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)

  • Yan, Ji

    (Appalachian State University)

Abstract

While a large literature examines the immediate and long-run effects of public health insurance, much less is known about the impacts of total program exposure on child developmental outcomes. This paper uses an instrumental variable strategy to estimate the effect of cumulative eligibility gain on cognitive and behavioral outcomes measured at three points during childhood. Our analysis leverages substantial variation in cumulative eligibility due to the dramatic public insurance expansions between the 1980s and 2000s. We find that increased eligibility improves child cognitive skills and present suggestive evidence on better behavioral outcomes. There are notable heterogeneous effects across the subgroups of interest. Both prenatal eligibility and childhood eligibility are important for driving gains in the test scores at older ages. Improved child health is found to be a mediator of the impact of increased eligibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Hull, Marie C. & Yan, Ji, 2024. "The Impact of Children's Access to Public Health Insurance on Their Cognitive Development and Behavior," IZA Discussion Papers 17190, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17190
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Medicaid; state children's health insurance program; health insurance; human capital; cognitive development; non-cognitive skills;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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