Overview
Sarah Miller is a health and labor economist at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Her research focuses on the causal effects of health insurance coverage — particularly Medicaid and Medicare — on health, mortality, labor market outcomes, and financial well-being.
Key Contributions / Features
- Miller, Johnson, and Wherry (2021) — NBER Working Paper 26081; first individual-level quasi-experimental evidence that ACA Medicaid expansion significantly reduced mortality among near-elderly low-income adults (~566,000 ACS respondents linked to Census Numident death records and CMS Medicaid enrollment); DiD estimate: −0.132 pp annual mortality (9.4% reduction); ~4,800 fewer deaths/year in expansion states. See Medicaid and Mortality.
- Carey, Miller, and Molitor (2025) — established that countercyclical DI enrollment during recessions is driven overwhelmingly by reduced opportunity costs (~92–98%), not health shocks; used Medicare data and the vocational grid age-50/55 discontinuity. See DI Countercyclicality.
- Wherry and Miller (2016) — Annals of Internal Medicine; early evidence on coverage, access, utilization, and health effects of ACA Medicaid expansions using a quasi-experimental design.
- Miller (2012) — Journal of Public Economics; estimated the effect of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform on emergency room visits.
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