Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7986-8504
Date of Award
Summer 8-13-2019
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Economics
First Advisor
Dr. Thomas A. Mroz
Second Advisor
Dr. Daniel Kreisman
Third Advisor
Dr. Nguedia Pierre Nguimkeu
Fourth Advisor
Dr. M. Melinda Pitts
Abstract
Raising the eligibility age for Medicare, the third largest program in the federal budget, could lead to a large reduction in the federal budget deficit; however, the effect of this change on the welfare and the health of the near-retirement population is unclear. Using Health and Retirement Study (HRS) dataset, I measure the effect of a change in Medicare eligibility age on the welfare of the elderly population by estimating a dynamic discrete choice model of health and retirement that endogenizes health investment decisions. The empirical model allows for tracking the health behavior, labor supply, and health status among the other key variables. Using Forward Simulation and Conditional Choice Probability estimator (CCP), I incorporate a large, multidimensional state space that includes fixed unobserved heterogeneity. I find that labor supply, life expectancy, and mental health will be affected positively in response to an increase in the Medicare eligibility age. The welfare effect, however, is negative and there is some evidence of cost transfers from Medicare to the Social Security Program.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/15002466
Recommended Citation
Firouzi naeim, Peyman, "Willingness to Pay for Medicare in a Structural Model of Retirement and Health Investment." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2019.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/15002466
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