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How Does Retiree Health Insurance Influence Public Sector Employee Saving?

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  • Robert Clark
  • Olivia S. Mitchell

Abstract

Economic theory predicts that employer-provided retiree health insurance benefits crowd-out household wealth accumulation. Nevertheless, there is little research on the impacts of retiree health insurance on wealth accruals, so this paper utilizes a unique data file on three baseline cohorts from the Health and Retirement Study to explore how employer-provided retiree health insurance may influence net household wealth among public sector employees, where retiree healthcare benefits are still quite prevalent. We find that most full-time public sector employees who anticipate receiving employer-provided health insurance coverage in retirement save less than their private sector uncovered counterparts.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Clark & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2013. "How Does Retiree Health Insurance Influence Public Sector Employee Saving?," NBER Working Papers 19511, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19511
    Note: AG EH LS PE
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    Cited by:

    1. Shoven, John B. & Slavov, Sita Nataraj, 2014. "The role of retiree health insurance in the early retirement of public sector employees," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 99-108.
    2. Fey, Jan-Christian & Lerbs, Oliver & Schmidt, Carolin & Weber, Martin, 2020. "Risk attitude and capital market participation: Is there a gender investment gap in Germany?," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-080, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Noghanibehambari, Hamid, 2022. "Intergenerational health effects of Medicaid," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    4. Morrill, Melinda Sandler, 2014. "Active and retired public employees’ health insurance: Potential data sources," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 147-152.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

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