The Relationship Between Health Insurance and Early Retirement: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act

This paper investigates the effect of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion on the retirement decision of low-educated adults aged 55-64. I employ a difference-in-differences strategy that exploits the timing and expansion decisions of states for adults without dependent children. I find that the expansions increase Medicaid enrollment for both men and women. The estimates also suggest that the expansions result in women retiring early, whereas there is no significant change in the retirement behavior of men. These findings imply that the effect of health insurance on women's retirement decisions may depend on men's labor market responses to health insurance.