The objective of the project is to study the short-, medium, and long-run effects of health insurance – focused on primary care – on health care utilization, spending and diagnosed diseases. We will evaluate a unique natural experiment from 2002 in the United States. The state of Utah enrolled formerly uninsured individuals in health plans that emphasized primary care and restricted more expensive specialist care. 

The study utilizes various unique longitudinal claims datasets from Utah. The pre-reform period covers up to six years of the universe of inpatient discharge data and all ambulatory surgeries as well as emergency room (ER) visits. The post-reform period includes up to 18 years of unique information on the entire medical care use of every single Utahn resident and allow us to assess short-, medium and long-run health impacts of the 2002 reform. Based on the findings the study elaborates on the optimal design of public health insurance and essential benefit packages.