@article {8006, title = {Cumulative inequality and racial disparities in health: private insurance coverage and black/white differences in functional limitations.}, journal = {J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci}, volume = {69}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Sep}, pages = {798-808}, publisher = {69}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: To test different forms of private insurance coverage as mediators for racial disparities in onset, persistent level, and acceleration of functional limitations among Medicare age-eligible Americans.

METHOD: Data come from 7 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (1996-2008). Onset and progression latent growth models were used to estimate racial differences in onset, level, and growth of functional limitations among a sample of 5,755 people aged 65 and older in 1996. Employer-provided insurance, spousal insurance, and market insurance were next added to the model to test how differences in private insurance mediated the racial gap in physical limitations.

RESULTS: In baseline models, African Americans had larger persistent level of limitations over time. Although employer-provided, spousal provided, and market insurances were directly associated with lower persistent levels of limitation, only differences in market insurance accounted for the racial disparities in persistent level of limitations.

DISCUSSION: Results suggest private insurance is important for reducing functional limitations, but market insurance is an important mediator of the persistently larger level of limitations observed among African Americans.

}, keywords = {Activities of Daily Living, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Black or African American, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Health Status Disparities, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Insurance Coverage, Insurance, Health, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Medicare, Socioeconomic factors, United States}, issn = {1758-5368}, doi = {10.1093/geronb/gbu005}, url = {http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/02/24/geronb.gbu005.abstract}, author = {Ben Lennox Kail and Miles G Taylor} } @article {7689, title = {Coverage or costs: the role of health insurance in labor market reentry among early retirees.}, journal = {J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci}, volume = {67}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Jan}, pages = {113-20}, publisher = {67B}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the impact of insurance coverage on the odds of returning to work after early retirement and the change in insurance coverage after returning to work.

METHOD: The Health and Retirement Study was used to estimate hierarchical linear models of transitions to full-time work and part-time work relative to remaining retired. A chi-square test was also used to assess change in insurance coverage after returning to work.

RESULTS: Insurance coverage was unrelated to the odds of transitioning to full-time work. However, relative to employer-provided insurance, private nongroup insurance increased the odds of transitioning to part-time work, whereas public insurance reduced the odds of making this transition. Additionally, after returning to work, insurance coverage increased among those who were without employer-provided insurance in retirement.

DISCUSSION: Results indicated that source of coverage may be more useful in explaining returns to part-time work than simply whether people have coverage at all. In other words, the mechanism underlying the positive relationship between insurance and returning to work appeared to be limited to those who return to work because of the cost of private nongroup insurance. Among these people, however, there was some evidence that they are able to secure new coverage once they return to work.

}, keywords = {Employment, Female, Health Benefit Plans, Employee, Health Surveys, Humans, Insurance Coverage, Insurance, Health, Male, Middle Aged, Retirement, United States}, issn = {1758-5368}, doi = {10.1093/geronb/gbr130}, url = {http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/pqdweb?did=2579962341andFmt=7andclientId=17822andRQT=309andVName=PQD}, author = {Ben Lennox Kail} } @mastersthesis {6368, title = {Considering the impact of U.S. social policy retirement benefits on later life labor force participation}, volume = {Ph.D.}, year = {2010}, note = {ISBN 9781124709239}, pages = {156}, school = {The Florida State University}, type = {Dissertation}, abstract = {As a life stage, retirement emerged out of the industrial revolution and the passage of the Social Security Act of 1935. Since the 1960s, however, several macrostructural changes have resulted in a much more varied landscape of later life labor force behavior. The research presented here extends the work of previous scholars on non-traditional paths to full labor force exit. Using data from the first eight waves of the Health and Retirement Study, the current research focuses on the role of retirement benefits from welfare policy and tax subsidized private retirement plans on transitions between labor force statuses in later life, using multinomial logistic regression in an Hierarchical Linear Modeling framework. Drawing on the hidden welfare state- and life course - perspectives yields several important findings. First, this study finds that welfare benefits allow individuals to reduce their work participation and fully exit the labor force, as well as to reduce the risk that they subsequently reverse their retirement. Because these benefits are nearly universal, they help decouple virtually all age eligible participants from work. Second, private benefits also help individuals to reduce their work, exit the labor force, and remain retired. However, because these benefits are limited to a select population they convey additional advantages to those beneficiaries. Third, the aforementioned macrostructural changes occur at different points within individuals{\textquoteright} life courses and the results presented here suggest that this produces different patterns of labor force transitions across birth cohorts. Finally, using piecewise linear growth models, this study finds that, in addition to the actual welfare benefits individuals receive, becoming age eligible for public benefits also impacts later life labor force transitions. However, this influence is most noticeable among those who transition out of full time work, suggesting that public benefits are designed around a now parachronistic model of the life course.}, keywords = {Demographics, Employment and Labor Force, Event History/Life Cycle, Methodology, Public Policy, Retirement Planning and Satisfaction}, author = {Ben Lennox Kail} }