Dependent coverage provision led to uneven insurance gains and unchanged mortality rates in young adult trauma patients.

ABSTRACT: Insurance coverage has increased among young adults as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provision that allows young adults to remain covered under their parents' plans until age twenty-six. However, little is known about the provision's effects on the clinical outcomes and insurance coverage of patients with trauma--the most frequent cause of death and physical disability among young adults. Using 2007-12 data from the National Trauma Data Bank, we conducted a difference-in-differences analysis of coverage rates among trauma patients ages 19-25 (compared to patients ages 26-34, who served as the control group), and we examined trauma-relevant outcomes by patient, injury, and hospital characteristics. We found a 3.4-percentage-point decrease in uninsurance status among younger trau

SUBMITTER: Scott JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4692158 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature