Arenberg, Samuel Neller, Seth and Stripling, Sam
The impact of youth medicaid eligibility on adult incarceration - American Economic Journal: Applied Economics - 16(1), Jan, 2024: p.121-156
This paper identifies an important spillover associated with public health insurance: reduced incarceration. In 1990, Congress passed legislation that increased Medicaid eligibility for individuals born after September 30, 1983. We show that Black children born just after the cutoff are 5 percent less likely to be incarcerated by age 28, driven primarily by a decrease in incarcerations connected to financially motivated offenses. Children of other races, who experienced almost no gain in Medicaid coverage as a result of the policy, demonstrate no such decline. We find that reduced incarceration in adulthood substantially offsets the initial costs of expanding eligibility. – Reproduced
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20200785
The impact of youth medicaid eligibility on adult incarceration - American Economic Journal: Applied Economics - 16(1), Jan, 2024: p.121-156
This paper identifies an important spillover associated with public health insurance: reduced incarceration. In 1990, Congress passed legislation that increased Medicaid eligibility for individuals born after September 30, 1983. We show that Black children born just after the cutoff are 5 percent less likely to be incarcerated by age 28, driven primarily by a decrease in incarcerations connected to financially motivated offenses. Children of other races, who experienced almost no gain in Medicaid coverage as a result of the policy, demonstrate no such decline. We find that reduced incarceration in adulthood substantially offsets the initial costs of expanding eligibility. – Reproduced
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20200785