TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Kim, Seonghoon
AU  - Koh, Kanghyock
        TI  - Does Health Insurance Make People Happier? Evidence from Massachusetts' Healthcare Reform
        PY  - 2018/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 11879
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp11879
        AB  - We study the effects of Massachusetts' healthcare reform on individuals' subjective well-being. Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we find that the reform significantly improved Massachusetts residents' overall life-satisfaction. This result is robust to various sensitivity checks and a falsification test. We also find that the reform improved mental health. An additional analysis on the Tennessee healthcare reform supports our findings' external validity. Using the reform as an instrument for health insurance coverage, we estimate its large impact on overall life-satisfaction. Our results provide novel evidence on the psychological consequences of Massachusetts' healthcare reform.
        KW  - health insurance
KW  - life satisfaction
KW  - happiness
KW  - subjective well-being
KW  - Massachusetts healthcare reform
        ER  -