title: Did the Affordable Care Act's dependent coverage mandate increase premiums?
abstract: We investigate the impact of the Affordable Care Act's dependent coverage mandate on insurance premiums. The expansion of dependent coverage under the ACA allows young adults to remain on their parent's private health insurance plans until the age of 26. We find that the mandate has led to a 2.5-2.8 percent increase in premiums for health insurance plans that cover children, relative to single-coverage plans. We are able to conclude that employers did not pass on the entire premium increase to employees through higher required plan contributions.
authors: Louisiana State University, United States. Electronic address: bdepew@lsu.edu.
authors: Briggs
authors: B
authors: Depew
authors: Creighton University, United States. Electronic address: JamesBailey@creighton.edu.
authors: James
authors: J
authors: Bailey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008297:Male; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States
keywords: Affordable Care Act; Dependent instance coverage; Health insurance premium; Insurance mandate; Risk pool