A new N.B.E.R. working paper finds a link between health insurance and obesity, and suggests that the better insured you are, the fatter you’re likely to be. We already knew that people with health insurance consume more healthcare resources than the uninsured; it appears they’re consuming more calories, too. [%comments]
Getting Fat? Maybe It's Your Health Insurance
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I’m confused why they would point this out. It’s obvious that people who have better insurance are paying more for it than people who have crappy insurance or none at all…so that also means they probably have more money to buy more food. It’s simple.
Could it be that people with desk jobs and twinkies also have insurance, and people running around on farms don’t?
Sure I’d love a second piece of cake. Oh no it’s alright, I’m insured.
have to adjust for the poor, who can afford neither healthcare or weekly food bills (so better to look at non-insured with median incomes)
Is this a case of correlation but not causation? aka people who have health insurance (on average) have more money for food, as well as work a job that generally has less disamenity (aka more sitting, less moving around). While it makes sense that it could cause it, that on the margin if you have health insurance you are less likely to be cautious about eating, I am not sure people think it through like that.
Let me take that back. The authors are some of the best in the field and of course they handle all the issues related to job choice effecting your overall health and just capture effects of insurance on your BMI.
Correlation is not causation.
Moral hazard strikes again.