Laura Wherry

We examine multi-generational impacts of positive in utero health interventions using a new research design that exploits sharp increases in prenatal Medicaid eligibility that occurred in some states. Our analyses are based on U.S. Vital Statistics Natality files, which enables linkages between individuals' early life Medicaid exposure and the next generation's health at birth. We find evidence that the health benefits associated with treated generations' early life program exposure extend to later offspring. Our results suggest that the returns on early life health investments may be substantively underestimated.

This paper evaluates the economic consequences of being denied an abortion due to gestational limits. We link credit report data to the Turnaway Study, the first study to collect high-quality, longitudinal data on women receiving or being denied a wanted abortion in the United States. We compare financial outcomes over a ten-year period for women who had pregnancies just above and below a gestational age limit allowing for a wanted abortion. Outcome trajectories are similar for the two groups of women prior to the abortion encounter. Following the encounter, women who were denied an abortion experience a large increase in financial distress that is sustained for several years. There is also some evidence of a short-term reduction in credit access, but no change in measures of borrowing. Our results highlight important financial and economic consequences of restrictions on abortion access.

This paper evaluates the economic consequences of being denied an abortion due to gestational limits. We link credit report data to the Turnaway Study, the first study to collect high-quality, longitudinal data on women receiving or being denied a wanted abortion in the United States. We compare financial outcomes over a ten-year period for women who had pregnancies just above and below a gestational age limit allowing for a wanted abortion. Outcome trajectories are similar for the two groups of women prior to the abortion encounter. Following the encounter, women who were denied an abortion experience a large increase in financial distress that is sustained for several years. There is also some evidence of a short-term reduction in credit access, but no change in measures of borrowing. Our results highlight important financial and economic consequences of restrictions on abortion access.

Kaestner (2021) asserts that the analysis of Miller, Johnson, and Wherry (2021) lacks statistical power to uncover mortality effects. However, the power calculations provided by Kaestner (2021) contain several implementation errors. Furthermore, Kaestner (2021) relies on implausible assumptions to interpret the results. In this response, we show that the analysis conducted in Miller, Johnson, and Wherry (2021) is well-powered to detect reasonably-sized effects once these errors are corrected and more realistic assumptions are used for interpretation.

This article estimates changes in all-cause mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic by socioeconomic characteristics and occupation for nonelderly adults in the US, using large-scale, national survey data linked to administrative mortality records. Mortality increases were largest for adults living in correctional facilities or in health care–related group quarters, those without health insurance coverage, those with family incomes below the federal poverty level, and those in occupations with limited work-from-home options. For almost all subgroups, mortality increases were higher among non-Hispanic Black respondents than among non-Hispanic White respondents. Hispanic respondents with health insurance, those not living in group quarters, those with work-from-home options, and those in essential industries also experienced larger increases in mortality during the COVID-19 crisis compared with non-Hispanic Whites in those categories. Occupations that experienced the largest mortality increases were related to installation, maintenance, and repair and production. This research highlights the relevance of individual economic, social, and demographic characteristics during the COVID-19 crisis.

We use large-scale federal survey data linked to administrative death records to investigate the relationship between Medicaid enrollment and mortality. Our analysis compares changes in mortality for near-elderly adults in states with and without Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansions. We identify adults most likely to benefit using survey information on socioeconomic status, citizenship status, and public program participation. We find that, prior to the ACA expansions, mortality rates across expansion and nonexpansion states trended similarly, but beginning in the first year of the policy, there were significant reductions in mortality in states that opted to expand relative to nonexpanders. Individuals in expansion states experienced a 0.132 percentage point decline in annual mortality, a 9.4 percent reduction over the sample mean, as a result of the Medicaid expansions. The effect is driven by a reduction in disease-related deaths and grows over time. A variety of alternative specifications, methods of inference, placebo tests, and sample definitions confirm our main result.

The period before pregnancy is critically important for the health of a woman and her infant, yet not all women have access to health insurance during this time. We evaluated whether increased access to health insurance under the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansions affected ten preconception health indicators, including the prevalence of chronic conditions and health behaviors, birth control use and pregnancy intention, and receipt of preconception health services. By comparing changes in outcomes for low-income women in expansion and nonexpansion states, we document greater preconception health counseling, prepregnancy folic acid intake, and postpartum use of effective birth control methods among low-income women associated with Medicaid expansion. We do not find evidence of changes on the other preconception health indicators examined. Our findings indicate that expanding Medicaid led to detectable improvements on a subset of preconception health measures.