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Dental Use and Expenditures for Older Uninsured Americans: The Simulated Impact of Expanded Coverage
Author(s) -
Manski Richard J.,
Moeller John F.,
Chen Haiyan,
Schimmel Jody,
Pepper John V.,
St. Clair Patricia A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1475-6773
pISSN - 0017-9124
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6773.12205
Subject(s) - medical expenditure panel survey , medicine , health and retirement study , dental insurance , agency (philosophy) , medicaid , dental care , survey data collection , health care , data collection , environmental health , health insurance , consumer expenditure survey , gerontology , family medicine , public economics , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , aggregate expenditure , epistemology , economics , economic growth
Objective To determine if providing dental insurance to older A mericans would close the current gaps in dental use and expenditure between insured and uninsured older Americans. Data Sources/Study Setting We used data from the 2008 Health and Retirement Survey ( HRS ) supplemented by data from the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey ( MEPS ). Study Design We compared the simulated dental use and expenditures rates of newly insured persons against the corresponding rates for those previously insured. Data Collection/Extraction Methods The HRS is a nationally representative survey administered by the Institute for Social Research ( ISR ). The MEPS is a nationally representative household survey sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ( AHRQ ). Principal Findings We found that expanding dental coverage to older uninsured Americans would close previous gaps in dental use and expense between uninsured and insured noninstitutionalized A mericans 55 years and older. Conclusions Providing dental coverage to previously uninsured older adults would produce estimated monthly costs net of markups for administrative costs that comport closely to current market rates. Estimates also suggest that the total cost of providing dental coverage targeted specifically to nonusers of dental care may be less than similar costs for prior users.