Research Symposium

BIO

Aiden Merritt is a sophomore from Tallahassee, FL. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Risk Management and Insurance with a plan to double major in Economics. He plans to continue his education by pursuing a Master of Business Administration upon completing his undergraduate degree.

Natural Disasters, Economic Stress, and Enrollment Shifts in the ACA Marketplace

Abstract

When natural disasters happen the affected are faced with tough decisions. Decisions like repairing their homes, looking for their family, or caring for their own health. This research project is focused on identifying change and trends in the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace tier enrollments after natural disasters at the county level. The specific question of this segment of the project is focused on if there is a traceable trend of change in the poverty line in the top 10% of counties nationwide. The research uses programs such as STATA and Excel to compare disaster and poverty data. For studying the change in poverty line, the variable of total losses was used to determine the top ten percent of counties. After that the change over time of poverty in those counties per year was tracked and recorded. While there has not been a definitive trend found between total losses and change in poverty found, primarily due to the poverty data capturing a broader nationwide trend of decreasing poverty levels, there is still more to be done with this question. In the future if at risk counties were identified in advance and tracked over a period compared to unaffected counties, then potentially more clear results could be found. The overall research question helps us realize the why behind people’s decision making on what to do with their funds after being hit natural disasters and help policy makers make decisions that can protect and support people after disaster strikes.

Keywords: Insurance, Natural Disasters, ACA Marketplace