Biography: Sarah Miller is an associate professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. She received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2012. Dr. Miller’s research interests are in health economics and, in particular, the short-term and long-term effects of public policies that expand health insurance coverage, and in the effects of income and other social program support on health and well-being. In 2022, Dr. Miller was awarded the ASHEcon Medal, awarded by the American Society of Health Economists to an economist aged 40 or younger who has made the most significant contributions to the field of health economics. She is also a co-editor for the Journal of Public Economics. Her work has been published in the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the New England Journal of Medicine, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, the Journal of Public Economics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics, among other journals, and has been cited in outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Economic Report of the President.

Does Income Affect Health? Evidence from the OpenResearch Unconditional Income Study

Abstract: Does income affect health? We randomized 1,000 low-income adults in the United States to receive $1,000 per month for three years, with 2,000 control participants receiving \$50 per month. The transfer generated large but short-lived improvements in stress and food security, increased hospital and emergency department use, and increased medical spending by about $20 per month. However, we find a precise null effect of the transfer on several measures of health, including biomarkers derived from blood draws. We also find precise null effects on access to health care, physical activity, sleep, and measures related to preventive care and health behavior.