Consequences of Eliminating Federal Disability Benefits for Substance Abusers / Pinka Chatterji, Ellen Meara.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chatterji, Pinka.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Meara, Ellen.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w13407.

NBER working paper series no. w13407

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2007.

Summary:

Using annual, repeated cross-sections from national household survey data, we estimate how the January 1997 termination of federal disability insurance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Disability Insurance (DI), for those with Drug Addiction and Alcoholism affected labor market outcomes among individuals targeted by the legislation. We also examine whether the policy change affected health insurance, health care utilization, and arrests. We employ propensity score methods to address differences in observed characteristics between substance users and others, and we used a difference-in-difference-in-difference approach to mitigate potential omitted variables bias. In the short-run (1997-1999), declines in SSI receipt accompanied appreciable increases in labor force participation and current employment. There was little measurable effect of the policy change on insurance and utilization, but we have limited power to detect effects on these outcomes. In the long-run (1999-2002), the rate of SSI receipt returned to earlier levels, and short-run gains in labor market outcomes waned.

Notes:

Print version record

September 2007.