Open AccessThe Impact of Medicaid Expansion on Voter Participation: Evidence from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment
Author(s) -
Katherine Baicker,
Amy Finkelstein
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
quarterly journal of political science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.757
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1554-0634
pISSN - 1554-0626
DOI - 10.1561/100.00019026
Subject(s) - medicaid , voter turnout , lottery , turnout , demographic economics , presidential system , voting , health insurance , political science , presidential election , public administration , voter registration , public economics , economics , demography , sociology , health care , law , politics , microeconomics
In 2008, a group of uninsured low-income adults in Oregon was selected by lottery for the chance to apply for Medicaid. Using this randomized design and state administrative data on voter behavior, we analyze how a Medicaid expansion affected voter turnout and registration. We find that Medicaid increased voter turnout in the November 2008 Presidential election by about 7 percent overall, with the effects concentrated in men (18 percent increase) and in residents of Democratic counties (10 percent increase); there is suggestive evidence that the increase in voting reflected new voter registrations, rather than increased turnout among pre-existing registrants. There is no evidence of an increase in voter turnout in subsequent elections, up to and including the November 2010 midterm election.