Losing Health Insurance When Young: Impacts on Usage of Medical Services and Health

Dolores de la Mata and Carlos Felipe Gaviria ()
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Carlos Felipe Gaviria: The Institute of Economics, Zagreb

No 1508, CINCH Working Paper Series from Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health

Abstract: In this study we exploit a regulation in Colombia that exogenously changes health insurance coverage of young adult dependents, specifically those turning 18 years old, to analyze the effects of losing health insurance coverage on their health service usage and health status. We assess this effect using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) and data from the Encuesta Nacional de Calidad de Vida Survey for Colombia from 2010 to 2013. Losing coverage implies an increase in the cost of some medical services which may reduce their consumption (i.e. preventive services). Additionally, since under Colombian regulations, emergency department (ED) visits cannot be denied to anyone, regardless of health insurance status, uninsured young adults tend to use this service more instead of regular medical services (such as preventive healthcare or visits to physicians or specialists). We find, consistent with the change in relative prices, that losing health insurance when turning 18 years old increases the visits to the ED, reduces preventive care visits with a physician, and reduces the usage of other medical services. These results imply a substitution of cheaper medical services for more expensive ones when individuals turn 18 years old in Colombia.

Keywords: Health Insurance; Young Adults; Healthcare Usage; Emergency Department Visits; Columbia’s Healthcare System; Regression Discontinuity; Developing Country (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G22 I13 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 59 pages
Date: 2015-08, Revised 2015-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-ias
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Working Paper: Losing health insurance when young: Impacts on usage of medical services and health (2015)
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