Oral Health Services and the Health Economy

This presentation focuses on the relationship between insurance coverage and access to care for both dental services and other medical services. The presentation reviews the economic theory of insurance and the existing empirical evidence on the relationship between insurance and use of services. New analysis will be presented, including trends in insurance coverage for dental services and other medical services and a comparison of the relationship between insurance coverage and self-reported barriers to accessing care for both types of services. Data for the new analyses come from the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative cross-sectional study, and the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal study of older Americans (ages 51 and older). The presentation concludes with a discussion of how the Affordable Care Act will change the landscape for health insurance in the US and what these changes may mean for dental services.