Reducing Administrative Barriers Increases Take-up of Subsidized Health Insurance Coverage: Evidence from a Field Experiment / Keith Marzilli Ericson, Timothy J. Layton, Adrianna McIntyre, Adam Sacarny.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ericson, Keith Marzilli.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Layton, Timothy J.

McIntyre, Adrianna.

Sacarny, Adam.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30885.

NBER working paper series no. w30885

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023.

Summary:

Administrative barriers to social insurance program take-up are pervasive, including in subsidized health insurance. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with Massachusetts' Affordable Care Act marketplace to reduce these barriers and other behavioral frictions. We find that a "check the box" streamlined enrollment intervention raises enrollment by 11%, more than personalized reminder letters (7.9% increase) or generic reminder letters (4.5% increase). Effects are concentrated among individuals eligible for zero-premium plans, who faced no further administrative burdens of setting up payments. Producing this enrollment effect through premium reduction would cost about $6 million in subsidies, highlighting the importance of these burdens.

Notes:

Print version record

January 2023.