An early provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped slow ER visits for young adults under age 26, according to a new study from Stanford University.
The 2010 law allowed young adults under the age of 26 to remain on their parents' healthcare plans. Researchers found people ages 19 to 25 reduced their emergency department (ED) visits by 2.7 visits per 1,000 people compared to an older group, who reduced its visits by 2.1 per 1,000, in the same period.
The study took place between 2009 and 2011 and analyzed state hospital records in California, New York and Florida. Research was published in the September issue of the journal Health Affairs.
"The largest relative decreases were found in women (3 percent) and blacks (3.4 percent). This relative decrease in ED uses implies the total reduction of more than 60,000 visits from young adults ages 19-25 across the three states in 2011," the Stanford researchers wrote.
Before the law's enactment, about one in four people ages 18 to 34 were uninsured in 2009, according to the study. The dependence on emergency room visits can contribute to healthcare costs, when the uninsured use the hospital rather than visiting a doctor's office, retail clinic or urgent care center, according to Forbes.
"Our results suggest that the ACA's dependent coverage provision is associate with a relative decrease in the number of E.D. (emergency department) visits for young adults, but a minimal relative decrease in the rate at which they ever used the ED," the researchers wrote.
To clarify, the decrease in numbers was probably due to fewer visits among people who use the ED regularly as their primary care service. It does not suggest a drop in the number of people using the ED for actual emergencies.
"Further expansions of coverage under the ACA could facilitate expanded ED use by reducing economic barriers to using the ED among newly insured populations," the researchers wrote. "Such expansions could also facilitate these populations' use of better non-ED care, which would tend to reduce the demand for ED care."
A study conducted in Oregon and published in the journal Science earlier this year found individuals covered by Medicaid used the ER more often than those without insurance. The result seemed to run counter the law's proposal that people with insurance would not use the ER for their healthcare needs. The ACA ushered in expanded healthcare coverage for many under Medicaid.
