THE EFFECT OF HEALTH INSURANCE ON EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS: EVIDENCE FROM AN AGE-BASED ELIGIBILITY THRESHOLD

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Anderson, Michael L.; Dobkin, Carlos; Gross, Tal
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of California System; University of California Santa Cruz; Columbia University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/REST_a_00378
• 发表日期: 2014-03
• 页码: 189-195
• 关键词: care; coverage; access; adults; IMPACT

摘要

Health insurance affects the rate at which individuals visit hospitals and emergency departments (EDs). We identify the causal effect of losing health insurance using a regression discontinuity design. We compare individuals just before and after their twenty third birthday, which insurers have used as a cutoff after which students are no longer eligible for their parents' health insurance: 1.5% of young adults lose their health insurance upon turning 23, and this transition leads to a 1.6% decrease in ED visits and a 0.8% decrease in hospital stays. We discuss why these estimates are larger than those observed among teenage populations.