Publications by authors named "Heather L Bednarek"

We examine the effects of employment-contingent health insurance (ECHI) on married women's labor supply following a health shock. First, we develop a theoretical framework that examines the effects of ECHI on the labor supply response to a health shock, which suggests that women with ECHI are less likely to reduce their labor supply in response to a health shock, relative to women with health insurance through their spouse's employer. Second, we empirically examine this relationship based on labor supply responses to breast cancer.

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A pilot telephone survey was administered to 253 cancer survivors, ages 35-75, 5-7 years after their diagnosis of breast, colorectal, lung, or prostate cancer. These survivors reported their demographic characteristics and, if they had retired, reasons for retirement and their impression of the retirement experience. Retirees were older, had less education and lower incomes, and fewer had health insurance through their current/former employer relative to employed survivors.

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The implementation of a disease management approach for patients with heart failure has been promoted as a way to improve outcomes, including a decrease in hospitalizations. However, in the absence of rigorous cost analyses and with revenues limited by professional fees, heart failure disease management programs may appear to operate at a loss. The literature outlining the importance of disease management for patients with heart failure is summarized.

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In this longitudinal study, we examine the consequences of breast cancer for women's labor market attachment for the 6-month period following diagnosis. Women with breast cancer, with the exception of those having in situ cancer, were less likely to work 6 months following diagnosis relative to a control sample of women drawn from the Current Population Survey. Breast cancer's non-employment effect appears to be twice as large for African-American women.

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Lacking health insurance has consequences for the ways in which individuals seek care. In this research, the authors use data from the first panel (1996) of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to assess the relationship between preventive services and the length of time with insurance during a 12-month period. Regression analyses show that individuals with continuous coverage during the entire period have dramatically higher rates of preventive service use than individuals who lack coverage for all 12 months.

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Objective: To investigate the effect of breast cancer on women's labor supply. DATE SOURCE/STUDY SETTING: Using the 1992 Health and Retirement Study, we estimate the probability of working using probit regression and then, for women who are employed, we estimate regressions for average weekly hours worked using ordinary least squares (OLS). We control for health status by using responses to perceived health status and comorbidities.

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Relying on data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) linked to longitudinal social security earnings data, we examine differences between breast cancer survivors and a non-cancer control group in employment, hours worked, wages, and earnings. Overall, breast cancer has a negative impact on employment. However, among survivors who work, hours of work, wages, and earnings are higher compared to women in the control group.

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As more people are diagnosed at earlier stages and surviving cancer, they are increasingly likely to be at working ages, where issues regarding productivity and employment continuation must be addressed by patients and employers alike. To this end, we studied the employment patterns of 253 long-term cancer survivors in the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Of those working at the time of their initial diagnosis, 67% were employed 5-7 years later.

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