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Cash Welfare and Health Spending

Jeffrey Hicks

Journal of Human Resources2026https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0623-12964r2article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

I explore the interplay between cash welfare and health-related outcomes using Canadian administrative data. Healthcare use rises sharply before a welfare application, especially for plausibly work-limiting diagnoses, then partially normalizes within three years. Using application adjudicators’ decisions as "judge IVs", I estimate that welfare receipt has limited effects on subsequent health-related outcomes. Because Canadian healthcare is free and universal, these findings are unrelated to health insurance. An exception is pharmaceuticals, which are free for welfare recipients but not for non-recipients — consistent with this, welfare receipt strongly increases pharmaceutical use, implying that incomplete insurance limits medication among those excluded from welfare.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0623-12964r2

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@article{jeffrey2026,
  title        = {{Cash Welfare and Health Spending}},
  author       = {Jeffrey Hicks},
  journal      = {Journal of Human Resources},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0623-12964r2},
}

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Cash Welfare and Health Spending

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.