The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 96 No. 1 2014
The Effect of Health Insurance on Emergency Department Visits: Evidence from an Age-Based Eligibility Threshold
Abstract
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.
- DOI
- 10.1162/rest_a_00378
- Volume
- 96
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 189-195
- Language
- en
- Sources
- crossref openalex