Abstract
This study uses state-level data to identify key factors influencing geographic differentials in the percentage of the population without health insurance coverage, with particular emphasis placed on the impact of the percentage of the population that is either self-employed or independent contractors. Not surprisingly, the cross-section analysis finds that the percentage of a state's population without health insurance was a decreasing function of median family income in the state, the female labor force participation rate in the state, and the percentage of the state's population age 65 and older, while being an increasing function of the percentage of households in the state with only a female head of household present (no husband present) and the percent of the state's population classified as Hispanic. Reflecting the emphasis in this study, the empirical estimates all also reveal that the percentage of a state's population without health insurance is an increasing the percentage of the state's population that filed a federal personal income tax return that included a Schedule C, which is used in this study as a proxy for self-employment and independent contractors.
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Cebula, R.J. A Further Analysis of Determinants of Health Insurance Coverage. Int Adv Econ Res 12, 382–389 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11294-006-9025-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11294-006-9025-3