Effects of Losing Medicaid on Body Weight and Health Behaviors

• In Event: Health Impacts of Social Safety Net Policies: Interactions between Nutrition and Medical Care

Abstract

Tennessee’s 2005 Medicaid reform terminated public health insurance coverage for approximately 170,000 childless adults. Leveraging this policy-induced variation, I study the impact of losing public health insurance on body weight and related health behaviors. Using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from 1997 to 2010, I estimate comparative case study models that compare Tennessee’s outcomes before and after the reform with those of data-driven control groups. The preferred synthetic difference-in-differences estimates suggest that the reform increased Body Mass Index by 0.37 points and the overweight or obesity prevalence (BMI≥25) by 4% among Tennessean childless adults. Examining health behaviors, I find evidence supporting weight gain through reduction in moderate physical activity participation (e.g., brisk walking, gardening) and vegetable consumption. Additionally, my empirical analysis highlights the key advantages of synthetic difference-in-differences method in a single treated cluster setting with lack of support for the parallel trend assumption.

Author

• Md Twfiqur Rahman, Georgia State University
  Presenting Author