How much does health insurance cost? Comparison of premiums in administrative and survey data

C-Tier
Journal: Economics Letters
Year: 2019
Volume: 174
Issue: C
Pages: 132-135

Score contribution per author:

0.503 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Using newly available administrative data from the IRS, this paper studies the distribution of employer-sponsored health insurance premiums. Previous estimates, in contrast, were almost exclusively from household surveys. After correcting for coverage limitations of IRS data, we find average premiums for employer-sponsored plans are roughly $1,000 higher in IRS records than in the Current Population Survey. The downward bias in the CPS results from underestimating premiums of married workers and topcoding of high premiums.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:ecolet:v:174:y:2019:i:c:p:132-135
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25