Health Care Systems and Services

Does Private Insurance Provide More Medical Care?

Ten years after the passing of the Affordable Care Act—the most comprehensive health care reform of the past half-century—most of the previously uninsured continue to lack coverage. Policymakers and members of the public have expressed growing support for expanding the role of public financing of health care. The “public option” and “Medicare for All” have emerged as important contenders for health policy reform. Both policies are rooted in widening access to the lower prices of the public system to make health care more affordable for all.

Physician sits with two patients filling out paperwork
Commentary

Three Questions about Medicaid As the ACA Turns 10

3.12.2020
Benjamin Sommers, Heidi L. Allen

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which turns 10 on March 23, dramatically changed Medicaid, making it available to millions of previously ineligible low-income adults. As some states continue to debate whether to expand Medicaid and policymakers propose more far-reaching changes to the program, it is critical to provide timely evidence on how the program is working and what the potential effect of major changes would be.

A Healthy Start to Life: How Medicaid Expansion Improves Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes

Birth outcomes, including infant mortality and low birth weight, are shockingly poor in the U.S. Researchers will assess whether the ACA increased intended pregnancies, reduced prepregnancy smoking, and affected contraception and birth outcomes among women covered by Medicaid--and whether these changes reduced disparities across racial and ethnic groups.

Medicaid Work Requirements: Results from the First Year in Arkansas

In June 2018, Arkansas became the first state to implement work requirements in Medicaid. Benjamin D. Sommers, Anna L. Goldman, Robert J. Blendon, E. John Orav, and Arnold M. Epstein of Harvard University provide the first independent assessment of early changes in beneficiary coverage and employment after the work requirements went into effect.

Benjamin Sommers
emergency room entrance
Cross-post

Do interventions to decrease emergency care use among ‘super-utilizers’ work?

6.19.2019
Paula Lantz, Samantha Iovan, Mahshid Abir

A new University of Michigan analysis reviews 46 studies evaluating interventions for "super-utilizers" of emergency department and prehospital care in the U.S. Here, the authors share their thoughts on the importance of their findings.

Interventions to Decrease Use in Prehospital and Emergency Care Settings Among Super-Utilizers in the United States: A Systematic Review

“Super-utilizers” have been the subject of much attention as health care systems work to reduce costs and provide better care. As part of their work to understand best practices for addressing the medical and social needs of high-need/high-cost patients, Samantha Iovan, Paula Lantz, Katie Allan, and Mahshid Abir published a systematic review examining interventions that are being implemented to address super-utilizers in prehospital and emergency care settings in the U.S.

Mahshid Abir, Paula Lantz
Doctor measures blood pressure of patient
Commentary

A New Medicaid Research Hub in a Time of Major Policy Change

2.12.2019
Benjamin Sommers, Heidi L. Allen, Anna L. Goldman

Across the country, changes to Medicaid policy are under way. They hold the potential to dramatically alter the landscape of health care for millions of low-income individuals.

Cross-post

Research Hub Leader Paula Lantz on the Medicalization of Population Health

1.23.2019
Paula Lantz

In a recent opinion in The Milbank Quarterly, Dr. Lantz builds on insights from her P4A research portfolio to articulate concerns about the recent "medicalization" of population health within the health care system and its limits in making substantial improvements in population health.

How State Medicaid Policy Influences Billing for "Free Care" in Public Schools

In 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance to allow providers in educational settings to seek Medicaid reimbursement for free preventive services covered by the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit provided to Medicaid-enrolled children. However, following CMS’ announcement, states retained policies restricting reimbursement for these services.