Health
The Economics of Health and Migration
Abstract: Migration and health are intimately connected. It is known that migrants tend to be healthier than non-migrants. However, the mechanisms for this association are elusive. On the one hand, the costs of migration are lower for healthier people, thereby making it easier for the healthy to migrate. Empirical evidence from a variety of contexts shows […]
Read MoreCOVID-19 infections, vaccines, and economic recovery
By Carl Bonham, Peter Fuleky, Byron Gangnes, and Justin Tyndall A year ago Hawaii was operating under its first COVID-19 Stay at Home Order. As business activity contracted, the state quickly shed more than 150,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate jumped from 2% to 22%. Today there is hope that the devastation brought by the […]
Read MoreIntergenerational mobility in self-reported health status in the US
Abstract: We present estimates of intergenerational mobility in self-reported health status (SRHS) in the US using data from the PSID. We estimate that the rank-rank slope in SRHS is 0.26. We show that including both parent health and income in models of intergenerational mobility increases the explanatory power of child outcomes. We construct a monetary metric for […]
Read MoreUnique pattern of COVID-19 infection in the State of Hawai‘i
UHERO’s Sumner La Croix and coauthors published “Unique pattern of COVID-19 infection in the State of Hawai‘i” in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, and find that Pacific Islanders are 4% of the population and almost 30% of COVID-19 cases, an epidemic within an epidemic in Hawai‘i. Miller FD, La Croix S, Brown T, Ramsey […]
Read MoreCongratulations to UHERO’s Timothy Halliday
Congratulations to UHERO’s Timothy Halliday on his new publication in the Journal of Public Economics, “Intergenerational mobility in self-reported health status in the US.” Halliday and his coauthors show that including both parent health and income in models of intergenerational mobility increases the explanatory power of child outcomes, and document striking health mobility gaps by […]
Read MoreReopening Japanese Tourism in Hawaii: Is it Safe?
In this short policy brief, we aim to answer four questions. 1. Will Japanese tourists coming to Hawaii be COVID-19 free after taking a pre-departure PCR test? 2. Are some Japanese tourists likely to be infected in Hawaii and bring COVID-19 back to Japan? 3. Will the combination of a pre-departure test and a quarantine […]
Read MoreThe impact of Medicaid on medical utilization in a vulnerable population: Evidence from COFA migrants
In March 2015, the State of Hawaii stopped covering the majority of migrants from countries part of the Compact of Free Association (COFA) in its Medicaid program. COFA migrants were required to obtain private insurance in the exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act. Using statewide hospital discharge data, we show that Medicaid-funded hospitalizations and emergency […]
Read MoreThe Impact of the Medicaid Expiration on COFA Migrants and COVID19
By Timothy Halliday Policy Background [1] Under the Compacts of Free Association (COFA), citizens from three nation-states located in the Pacific Ocean (the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia) are given free entry to the United States. In return, the United States military has access to […]
Read MorePublication: The Mortality Effects of Reduced Medicaid Coverage Among International Migrants in Hawaii: 2012–2018
Objectives: To study the impact on mortality in Hawaii from the revoked state Medicaid program coverage in March 2015 for most Compact of Free Association (COFA) migrants who were nonblind, nondisabled, and nonpregnant. Methods: We computed quarterly crude mortality rates for COFA migrants, Whites, and Japanese Americans from March 2012 to November 2018. We employed […]
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