Is there a Link Between Foreclosure and Health?

Janet Currie, Erdal Tekin

NBER Working Paper No. 17310
Issued in August 2011, Revised in November 2013
NBER Program(s):Health Economics, Labor Studies, Public Economics

We investigate the relationship between foreclosures and hospital visits using data on all foreclosures and all hospital and emergency room visits from four states that were among the hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. We find that living in a neighborhood with a spike in foreclosures is associated with significant increases in urgent unscheduled visits, including increases in visits for preventable conditions. The estimated relationships cannot be accounted for by increasing unemployment, declines in housing prices, migration, or by people switching from out-patient providers to hospitals.

Acknowledgments

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Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w17310

Published: Janet Currie & Erdal Tekin, 2015. "Is There a Link between Foreclosure and Health?," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 63-94, February. citation courtesy of