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Love or Money? Health Insurance and Retirement Among Married Couples

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  • Kanika Kapur
  • Jeannette Rogowski

Abstract

This paper examines the role of employer provided health insurance in the retirement decisions of dual working couples. The near elderly have high-expected medical expenditures; therefore, availability of health insurance is an important factor in their retirement decisions. We determine if access to retiree health insurance for early retirement enables couples to time their retirement together - a behavior called "joint retirement." We find that wives' retiree health insurance more than doubles the propensity to retire jointly, suggesting that health insurance is an important consideration in coordinating retirement decisions among couples. Even though retiree health insurance has a substantial effect on joint retirement, its effect on overall employment patterns is modest, accounting for a 2 percentage point fall in employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Kanika Kapur & Jeannette Rogowski, 2006. "Love or Money? Health Insurance and Retirement Among Married Couples," NBER Working Papers 12273, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12273
    Note: AG EH LS
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jody Schimmel, 2006. "Men With Health Insurance and the Women Who Love Them: the Effect of a Husband's Retirement on His Wife's Health Insurance Coverage," Working Papers wp131, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    2. Gotlibovski, Chemi & Weiss, Yoram, 2008. "Retirement Decisions of Married Couples," Foerder Institute for Economic Research Working Papers 275710, Tel-Aviv University > Foerder Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

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