Subsequent program participation of former social security disability insurance beneficiaries and supplemental security income recipients whose eligibility ceased because of medical improvement.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) periodically reviews the disabilities of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients and Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries to determine if their impairments still meet the requirements for program eligibility. For individuals whose eligibility was ceased after a full medical review from 2003 to 2008, we track subsequent program participation for up to 8 years. We use survival analyses to estimate the time untilfirst return to SSI and DI and explore the differences in returns by various personal and programmatic characteristics such as age, disability type, time on program, and SSA expectations regarding medical improvement.

The effect of expanding access to health insurance on the health and mortality of Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries.

We use a social experiment to estimate the impact of expanding health insurance coverage on the health and mortality of newly entitled SSDI beneficiaries who lacked health insurance. Our intent-to-treat estimates show that expanding health insurance has significant effects on self-reported health at one year following health insurance enrollment, positive effects on mental health and physical health at one year following health insurance enrollment, and no significant effects on mortality within our observation period. About 30% of control group members obtained health insurance coverage within one year following enrollment.

Expanding access to health care for Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries: early findings from the accelerated benefits demonstration.

Most Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries must complete a 5-month waiting period before they become entitled to DI cash benefits and an additional 24-month waiting period before Medicare benefits begin. The Accelerated Benefits (AB) demonstration is a randomized experiment designed to test the effects of providing newly entitled DI beneficiaries who do not have health insurance with a generous health benefits package during the Medicare waiting period. This article presents early findings on the prevalence of health insurance coverage among newly entitled beneficiaries and the characteristics of those without health insurance.