2020

The decision to apply for DI is based on the interplay between one’s health, the demands of one’s job, employer accommodations, and the ability to find a new job that better matches health status and job demands. In the proposed…

We will use data from Veteran’s return to work after disability onset to describe how age and education affect work. This will give SSA information that could improve the disability determination process (help make more accurate determinations using a vocational…

After decades of growth, since 2010 both applications and awards for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) have steadily declined. This decline in SSDI applications has not been accompanied by an improvement in overall health as measured in national surveys. Conceptually,…

Individuals with higher socioeconomic status tend to live longer than those with lower SES. The gap in survival rates has widened in recent decades, potentially affecting aggregate Social Security payouts. In prior research we forecast mortality stratified by SES using…

Abstract: This research compares the retirement choices and economic well-being of public sector employees who are covered by Social Security to those who are uncovered. I use a data set of public employees from 12 waves of the HRS that…

Adjustments to benefits for individuals who delay claiming are designed to reward work and ensure equitable treatment between those who delay and those who claim early. Over the past 20 years, Social Security claiming ages have increased and become more…

This paper aims to quantify the effects of each Social Security totalization agreement that the United States has established since the late 1970s. We combine the recently developed synthetic control method with event-study analyses by constructing, for each country of…

Social Security totalization agreements affect a number of economic agents in a variety of ways. We propose to develop a cost-benefit framework of totalization agreements to facilitate the comparison of these effects and their assessment from a cost-benefit perspective. This…

Traditional Medicare imposes significant cost-sharing on beneficiaries. Most but not all beneficiaries obtain supplemental insurance – through Medigap, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, or employer-sponsored retiree coverage – but these policies vary in how well they protect against the risk of high…

We will estimate the total, Medicare, Medicaid, and out-of-pocket medical expenditures among the elderly across the income gradient. We will assess the risk of medical spending and how it is reduced through Medicaid and Medicare. We will also estimate the…