Job loss and health insurance before and after the ACA

We study how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) changed the effects of job loss on health insurance coverage. Using event studies of involuntary job loss and a matched control group, we show that the policy expanded access to insurance among unemployed workers, even prior to job loss, and dramatically reduced the magnitude of insurance loss at the time of displacement. The mitigating effects of the ACA on the severity of job loss effects are especially large for middle-income and single workers.