TY  - JOUR
AU  - Heim, Bradley
AU  - Lurie, Ithai
AU  - Simon, Kosali I
TI  - The Impact of the Affordable Care Act Young Adult Provision on Childbearing, Marriage, and Tax Filing Behavior: Evidence from Tax Data
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 23092
PY  - 2017
Y2  - January 2017
DO  - 10.3386/w23092
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w23092
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w23092.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Bradley Heim
School of Public and Environmental Affairs
1315 E 10th St
Bloomington, IN 47405
India
Tel: 812-855-9783
E-Mail: heimb@indiana.edu

Ithai Lurie
Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20220
Tel: 202-622-1789
Fax: Financial Economist
E-Mail: Ithai.Lurie@treasury.gov

Kosali I. Simon
O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Indiana University
1315 East Tenth Street
Bloomington, IN 47405-1701
Tel: (812) 856-3850
E-Mail: simonkos@indiana.edu
AB  - We use panel U.S. tax data spanning 2008-2013 to study the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) young adult provision on two important demographic outcomes—childbearing and marriage. The impact on childbearing is theoretically ambiguous, as gaining insurance may increase access to contraceptive services, while also reducing the out-of-pocket costs of childbirth.  The impact on marriage is also ambiguous, as marriage rates may decrease when young adults have less need for dependent health insurance through a spouse, but may increase when they are now allowed to stay on their parent’s plans even if they are married. Changes in childbearing and marriage can, in turn, lead to changes in the likelihood of filing a tax return.   Since W-2 forms record access to employer-provided fringe benefits, we were able to examine the impact of the coverage expansion by focusing on young adults whose parents have access to benefits. We compare those who are slightly younger than the age threshold to those who are slightly older.  Our results suggest that the ACA young adult provision led to a modest decrease in childbearing and marriage rates, though the propensity to file a tax return did not change significantly.
ER  -