policy change is also different than that of coverage that includes the entire family
rather than just a spouse. Women, who are on average not yet eligible for
Medicare when their spouses become eligible (because men are, on average, older
than their wives), will likely need to continue working in order to be able to cover
the costs for their own health insurance or health care even after the spouse has
retired. This need will be especially true for less-educated women, who are less
likely to have access to employer-based retiree coverage of their own.
This research suggests that although men’s labor force participation would
decrease as an effect of increased public health insurance coverage, some of this
decrease in participation would be made up for by an increase in the labor force
participation and hours worked of their wives.
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