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Health insurance and self‐assessed health: New evidence from Affordable Care Act repeal fear
Author(s) -
Li Xiaoxue,
Stith Sarah S.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/hec.4026
Subject(s) - repeal , health insurance , medicaid , patient protection and affordable care act , health care , environmental health , medicine , self rated health , gerontology , psychology , political science , economic growth , economics , law
Self‐assessed health is one of the most commonly used health measures by economists. However, changes in self‐assessed health are not always accompanied by changes in physical health as measured by clinical outcomes. This study provides suggestive evidence that this discrepancy arises because self‐assessed health is significantly influenced by psychological factors. Specifically, when the perceived risk of Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal increased, as documented by Google Trends data, self‐assessed health declined among low‐income childless adults living in states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA.