The Effect of the Affordable Care Act's Dependent Coverage Provisionon Health Insurance Gaps for Young Adults With SpecialHealthcare Needs.

PURPOSE

This study examined the impact of the 2010 Affordable Care Act's dependent coverage provision on gaps in insurance coverage for young adults with special healthcare needs (YASHCN).

METHODS

We used the 2008 Survey on Income and Program Participation, a longitudinal survey covering 2008-2013. Our sample was comprised of 3,316 YASHCN ages 19-29. We used a difference-in-differenceregression approach to assess the effect of the dependent coverage provision on the probability that a YASHCN experienced a gap in insurance coverage. We compared outcomes for a treatment group, YASHCN ages 19-25, and a control group, YASHCN ages 27-29, before and after the 2010 policy change. The longitudinal data allow us to estimate regressions that control for individual and time fixed effects.

RESULTS

After controlling for fixed effects and other confounding variables, we found that extending coverage until age 26 for YASHCN was associated with reduced insurance gaps. Specifically, our estimates suggest that the Affordable Care Act dependent coverage provision was associated with reduced insurance gaps among YASHCN by 2.4 percentage points.

CONCLUSIONS

The Affordable Care Act dependent coverage provision helped mitigate the number ofinsurance gaps experienced by YASHCN. This is of particular importance to YASHCN, as they are a vulnerablepopulation and their continuity of insurance coverage is a critical part of their transition into adulthood.