Faculty spotlight: Melissa McInerney, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Economics and Schroeder Center faculty affiliate, Melissa McInerney, Ph.D., is one of five recipients of a 2012 Steven H. Sandell Grant. Sandell grants are prestigious awards made to scholars in the field of retirement income and disability insurance research. The Sandell Grant Program is sponsored by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and is funded by the U.S. Social Security Administration.
Dr. McInerney’s project,“The Medicaid Buy-In and the Employment, Earnings, and Out of Pocket Medical Expenditures of Social Security Disability Insurance Beneficiaries,” will examine whether state implementation of a Medicaid Buy-In program increases employment and earnings and decreases out-of-pocket medical expenditures for Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) recipients. Medicaid Buy-In programs effectively lower the Medicaid eligibility requirements for disabled workers which could serve the policy goals of increasing workforce integration among Medicaid recipients and reducing financial burdens on the Disability Insurance program. Dr. McInerney’s research will provide preliminary evidence as to whether these goals are being met by the Medicaid Buy-In program.
