摘要：We offer an empirical analysis of the effects of health shocks on debt holdings of older Americans using panel data from the Health and Retirement Study. The average older American household owes a surprisingly large amount of mortgage and consumer debt, even in their late seventies. The occurrence of a severe health shock, such as the diagnosis of heart problems, cancer or a stroke, will increase mortgage and consumer debt if a household does not currently have debt, but results in less debt held if the household is already borrowing. If a household has only government insurance then the onset of a sudden severe health problem will increase debt but by less than if the household had only private insurance. If the government wishes to reduce debt owed by older Americans one approach it should consider seriously is the displacement of private insurance by government insurance.
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