The Effect of Health Insurance on Emergency Department Visits: Evidence from an Age-Based Eligibility Threshold
利用23岁年龄资格门槛，发现失去健康保险使年轻人急诊就诊减少1.6%、住院减少0.8%，对政策制定者和保险设计者有参考价值。
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.