Macroeconomic conditions and health-related outcomes in the United States: A metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area-level analysis between 2004 and 2017.

Abstract

We study the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and health in the United States using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System between 2004 and 2017. Unlike many existing studies that use state or county as the level of aggregation, our analysis uses a sample of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. Our results suggest strong associations between worsening macroeconomic conditions and reduced access to care and health insurance coverage. While we do not detect any robust relationships between business cycles and health outcomes in the general population, we do find consistent evidence of worse self-reported health during economic downturns among minorities and less-educated individuals. In addition, there is some suggestive evidence of countercyclicality of healthier lifestyle choices. However, the findings for health behavior outcomes are not robust to adjusting for multiple hypothesis testing.