  We conducted regression discontinuity design models in order to evaluate
changes in access to healthcare services and financial protection, using as a
natural experiment the age required to retire in Argentina, the moment in which
people are able to enroll in the free social health insurance called PAMI. The
dependent variables were indicators of the population with health insurance,
out-of-pocket health expenditure, and use of health services. The results show
that PAMI causes a high increase in the population with health insurance and
marginal reductions in health expenditure. No effects on healthcare use were
found.
