Health Care Systems and Services

While high deductibles can help lower premiums, they can also encourage consumers to delay or forgo necessary care. This can lead to worse health outcomes and ultimately greater out-of-pocket costs for consumers. A new research brief from Georgetown researchers looks at what states have done to lower cost-sharing barriers for their residents.

Sandy Ahn and Sabrina Corlette from the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University released a paper analyzing the findings of state laws that lower consumers’ financial barriers to key health care services. The research included a survey of laws and policies in all 50 states and D.C., and in-depth interviews of stakeholders in four states with such policies.

As Carson crafts his strategic goals for the agency, he should look to emerging cross-sector collaborations across the country to improve health outcomes through housing.

Building on their work as a past Policies for Action research hub, this project will leverage existing data sources to evaluate the impacts of various past and present policies on health and racial equity in New York.

The burdens of racist policies have produced vastly worse pregnancy and birth outcomes for Black and Native populations relative to White populations in the United States. Because state Medicaid programs are the largest single payer for pregnancy care in the country, changes to Medicaid policies are an important way to implement structural interventions to promote racial equity. 

This project will quantitatively assess whether the impacts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on health care access and utilization were equitable between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women.  

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.

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.

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.

Recent media reports have highlighted startling trends in U.S. maternal health with stark differences across racial and ethnic groups. Maternal deaths associated with pregnancy and childbirth are high when compared to other developed countries and have increased substantially over the last two decades.

While multiple studies show a positive association between employment status and improved physical and mental health, it is unclear whether this relationship is causal. Building on work in Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas, the research team will analyze the effects of Medicaid work requirements on coverage rates, access to care, and employment among low-income adults.

In January 2020, the Supreme Court allowed the Department of Homeland Security to implement a new rule regarding the definition of “public charge.”  Our team is collecting primary data from two distinct populations to explore awareness of the public charge rule, sources of information about the rule, and how the rule may affect decisions on obtaining medical care and participating in public programs.