The effects of expanding public insurance to rural low-income childless adults.

Objective: This study measures the change in health care use after enrollment into a new public insurance program for low-income childless adults.

Data Sources/study Setting: The data sources include claims from a large integrated health system in rural Wisconsin and Medicaid enrollment files, January 2007-September 2012.

Study Design: We employ a regression discontinuity design to measure the causal effect of public insurance enrollment on counts of outpatient, emergency department, and inpatient events for 2 years following enrollment for a sample of previously uninsured low-income adults in rural Wisconsin.