Does Health Care Reform Support Self-Employment?

Health insurance access is an important factor in individuals' labor market decisions. A majority of workers in the US receive health insurance through employers. This creates a strong relationship between paid-employment and access to health insurance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Car...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economic review (Kansas City) 2014-07, p.5-5ff
Main Authors: Tüzemen, Didem, Becker, Thealexa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Employees
Employers
Employment
Health care policy
Health insurance
Health policy
Insurance coverage
Labor
Law
Legislation
Markets
Massachusetts
Medical service
Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act 2010-US
Patients
Self employment
Self-employed
Uninsured persons
United States
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Summary:Health insurance access is an important factor in individuals' labor market decisions. A majority of workers in the US receive health insurance through employers. This creates a strong relationship between paid-employment and access to health insurance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) stipulates major changes to the health care system with the goal of decreasing the nation's uninsured rate. These changes break the traditional link between employment and health insurance access by introducing additional options to purchase insurance outside of employer-provided coverage. By improving health insurance access, the PPACA might affect the self-employment rate in the US. This article examines the effects of improved health insurance access on the rate of self-employment using evidence from the health care reform in Massachusetts enacted in 2006. The PPACA may encourage self-employment at the national level as the law expands health insurance options for the self-employed, and may remove a barrier to self-employment. A recent report by the Congressional Budget Office indicates that the discouraging influence of the reform on self-employment could be even weaker at the national level.
ISSN:0161-2387
2163-422X