The Power of Children: Causal Impacts of State Children's Health Insurance Program Eligibility Expansions With Respect to Insurance Coverage, Labor, and General Health

This study investigates the causal impacts of State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) eligibility expansions. Using three different models utilizing an instrumental variable approach, this study investigates to what extent eligibility expansions increase health care coverage for children, to what extent increased coverage affects parents' labor supply and labor conditions, and to what extent increased coverage of children makes parents and children healthier. I exploit SCHIP as it has continually expanded since it was signed into law in 1997. Ultimately, I find evidence that SCHIP expansions do increase overall health coverage but experience a crowd-out rate of about 44%. Furthermore, I find evidence that increased health coverage for children may cause fathers to work more hours per week and may lead to overall better health for parents. This study builds off a long line of literature focusing on crowd-out with respect to Medicaid and causal impacts of Medicaid expansions.