NB20-01: Health Variations Among DI Recipients: Evidence from Medicare

Understanding the characteristics and health needs of individuals induced into DI by regulatory features and policy changes is critically important for understanding the future of the program. Previous work has focused on entry induced by economic recessions, which could be due to either (a) changes in the propensity to apply for DI among medically eligible individuals, or (b) a recession-induced worsening of health among people who were not previously medically eligible (Autor & Duggan 2003; Maestas, Mullen, and Strand 2015; Maestas, Mullen, and Strand 2018; Charles, Li, and Stephens 2018; Lindner, Burdick, Meseguer 2017). In this project, we will study groups of DI recipients who join the program between 1993 and 2013 under different economic circumstances and characterize their health status and medical costs using Medicare claims, decomposing the effects into the parts driven by changes in medical eligibility and to changes in the propensity to apply for benefits.