The Impact of the Affordable Care Act's Dependent Coverage Mandate on Use of Dental Treatments and Preventive Services.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oral health problems are the leading chronic conditions among children and younger adults. Lack of dental coverage is thought to be an important barrier to care but little empirical evidence exists on the causal effect of private dental coverage on use of dental services. We explore the relationship between dental coverage and dental services utilization with an analysis of a natural experiment of increasing private dental coverage stemming from the Affordable Care Act's (ACA)-dependent coverage mandate.

Objectives

To evaluate whether increased private dental insurance due to the spillover effect of the ACA-dependent coverage health insurance mandate affected utilization of dental services among a group of affected young adults.

Data

2006-2013 Medical Expen

SUBMITTER: Shane DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5568688 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature