Early retiree and near-elderly health insurance in recession

This paper examines recent trends in health insurance cost and coverage for the near-elderly population (aged 55 to 64), with particular attention directed toward the implications of the 2007 recession. We examine coverage by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics from the Current Population Survey and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We also estimate the effects of projected increases in the unemployment rate for employer-sponsored insurance coverage of the near elderly in 2009 and 2010. Erosion in coverage is likely to be exacerbated in the short run by the 2007 recession, given rapidly rising unemployment among this age cohort, and in the long-run, given the inability of the labor market to support increased labor market participation of older Americans in jobs that would have traditionally provided health insurance coverage.