Estimating premium sensitivity for children's public health insurance coverage: selection but no death spiral.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To estimate the effect of premium increases on the probability that near-poor and moderate-income children disenroll from public coverage.

Data sources

Enrollment, eligibility, and claims data for Georgia's PeachCare for Kids(™) (CHIP) program for multiple years.

Study design

We exploited policy-induced variation in premiums generated by cross-sectional differences and changes over time in enrollee age, family size, and income to estimate the duration of enrollment as a function of the effective (per child) premium. We classify children as being of low, medium, or high illness severity.

Principal findings

A dollar increase in the per-child premium is associated with a slight increase in a typical child's monthly probability of exiting coverage from 7.

SUBMITTER: Marton J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4369223 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature