Laura Montenovo will examine how Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reshaped federal transfers to local governments. She and her coresearchers estimate that, on average, the ACA expansion would have increased federal Medicaid transfers by about 50 percent more per capita in non-expansion counties than they did in expansion counties. These transfers disproportionately flow to counties with lower tax capacity and lower adjusted gross income, generating fiscal smoothing across U.S. counties.

PURCE faculty affiliate Montenovo is an assistant professor of agricultural economics in Purdue’s College of Agriculture. Her research focuses on labor economics, studying how large reforms and regulations affect workers, firms, and overall economic development.

Space is limited for PURCE luncheons, and&nb...