Replication data for: Mind the Gap: Does Discontinuity in Health Insurance Status Cause Increased Usage of Emergency Department and Physician Office Visits?

Background: The health insurance market will undergo significant changes as the Affordable Care Act extends health coverage to millions of Americans who were pre- viously uninsured. Yet, little is known how changes to insurance coverage affect usage of medical services. Objectives: Investigate the statistical associations between changes in insurance status (becoming insured or uninsured) in both emergency department (ED) use and physician office visits and compare differences in the impact of the insurance status change on ED compared to physician office visits. Sample: This study utilizes survey data from 262 775 respondents to the the Na- tional Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 2006 to 2009. Method: Insurance status was categorized into four groups: continuously insured, newly insured, newly uninsured and continuously uninsured. This status was com- pared to ED and physician office visits rates. Results: Newly insured patients use more ED visits than the other groups (0.53 visits a year vs 0.52 for newly uninsured, 0.39 for continuously insured and 0.34 for continuously uninsured). Continuously insured people use more physician visits than the other groups (4.5 visits per year vs 4.4 for newly insured, 3.8 for newly uninsured and 2.6 for continuously uninsured). Continuously uninsured individuals do not drive ED use and seek less care than people with other insurance statuses, both in the ED and physician offices (2.6 visits per year vs 3.9 for newly uninsured, 4.4 for newly insured and 4.5 for continuously insured). Regardless of insurance sta- tus, people seek medical care in the physicians office more than the ED. A gain in insurance status is associated with an increase in seeking medical care in both EDs and physician offices.