The effect of double coverage on health care utilization of children

Double coverage refers to a situation in which a person is covered by more than one health plan. In a family in which the husband and wife are both offered employer-provided insurances, it is possible for one or more family members to be double covered. This article is the first to examine double coverage of children and quantify the effects of double coverage on health care utilization for any population. Results show that double coverage does not affect the frequency at which children consume medical services, but rather double coverage leads children to consume more expensive forms of health care.