In this paper, I analyze the eects of health shocks on income, (food) consumption, and house-
hold behavior in terms of human capital and agricultural investments. I estimate the eects of
health shocks on these outcome variables when households have access to publicly provided health
insurance and compare them to the estimates obtained from households without access to public
health insurance. The dierences between these two sets of estimates yield the eects of health
insurance in mitigating the outcomes associated with health shocks. The main identication prob-
lem with a comparison between households covered by health insurance and those without is that insurance coverage is endogenous. For example, individuals with certain unobserved traits (such
as risk aversion) may self-select into insurance programs and demand more insurance, and these
unobserved characteristics often aect their choices.