@article {9498, title = {Poverty among the aged population: The role of out-of-pocket medical expenditures and annuitized assets in supplemental poverty measure estimates}, year = {2018}, pages = {47-75}, publisher = {Social Security Bulletin}, abstract = {We examine the extent to which the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) overestimates the poverty rate of the aged population because it does not account for asset holdings. Following a conservative annuity approach, we use 2010 Health and Retirement Study data to estimate high and low bounds of potential annuitized asset withdrawals and then recalculate 2009 SPM poverty rates. Including annuitized asset principal in family resources reduces the estimated SPM poverty rate for the aged, especially among those who are in poverty because of medical out-of-pocket expenditures. For example, between 30.8 percent and 45.2 percent of the latter group would be reclassified as not SPM poor if they were to annuitize their financial assets. To better represent available family resources, poverty measurements for the aged should incorporate (at minimum) the conservative estimates of available assets produced by the bounded-annuity approach.}, keywords = {Annuitization, Medical Expenses, Out-of-pocket payments, Poverty}, issn = {00377910}, author = {William J. Chopik and Wimer, Christopher and Betson, David M. and Manfield, Lucas} } @article {5858, title = {Elderly Poverty in the United States in the 21st Century: Exploring the Role of Assets in the Supplemental Poverty Measure}, year = {2015}, institution = {Boston College}, abstract = {Official estimates of elderly poverty do not take into account either the medical needs of the elderly, which can be quite extensive, or the assets at their disposal, which may also be extensive. The new Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) explicitly takes into account medical needs but has been criticized for not concomitantly taking into account asset portfolios. In this paper we consider both jointly, using an approach adapted from a recent National Academy of Sciences report recommending methods for measuring poverty and medical risk while taking account of assets. We use longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).}, keywords = {Income, Net Worth and Assets}, url = {http://crr.bc.edu/working-papers/elderly-poverty-in-the-united-states-in-the-21st-century-exploring-the-role-of-assets-in-the-supplemental-poverty-measure/}, author = {Wimer, Christopher and Manfield, Lucas} }