Informing Health Initiatives: Summary of Requests and Assistance Provided, July 2010-November 2010

A summary of requests to the Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends (CFACT) for information to inform health initiatives, and of the assistance provided from July 2010 through November 2010.

Source of Request	Request	Date	Staff Responsible	Assistance Provided
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, HHS; and Department of Treasury	Estimates of single and non-single health insurance premiums at the sub-State level	7/10	Jessica Vistnes Beth Crimmel	To inform the small business tax credit that was included in the health care reform legislation, provided estimated models of premium costs in MSA- and non-MSA areas of States using MEPS Insurance Component (MEPS- IC) premium data for a joint project with ASPE and IRS.
Congressional Research Service	Estimates of health insurance coverage for pregnant adult women	8/10	Julie Hudson	Detailed estimates of the number of pregnant women ages 19 to 64 in the United States, the percent of pregnant women who were uninsured, and the percent of women who were eligible for Medicaid. Estimates were based on MEPS Household Component (MEPS-HC) data.
Office of Senator Al Franken (D-MN)	Assistance in efforts to develop home- and community-based services (HCBS) quality indicators	8/10	Deb Potter	Provided a briefing on AHRQ's findings in the specification of quality indicators that reflect meaningful variation in the underlying health and outcomes of the community-residing Medicaid disabled population receiving HCBS. http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ahrq.gov%2Fprofessionals%2Fsystems%2Flong-term-care%2Fhcbsreport.html
Congressional Budget Office	Estimates of employer-sponsored coverage	9/10	Beth Crimmel	Provided detailed estimates of private sector health insurance total enrollment, and employment by wage categories and firm size for 2008 and 2009.
Government Accounting Office	Request for access to restricted MEPS data through AHRQ's Data Center	9/10	Doris Lefkowitz	To inform provisions of the 2009 Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (PL 111-3, section 402), entered into an AHRQ Data Center agreement to facilitate analysis of MEPS restricted data. This analysis examines children's access to primary and specialty services under Medicaid and CHIP.
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, HHS	Characteristics of the non-group health insurance market	10/10	Jessica Banthin	Provided national estimates from MEPS on detailed characteristics of the non-group market by duration of coverage.
Congressional Research Service	Information on the age distribution of policyholders at small and large employers	10/10	Jessica Vistnes Beth Crimmel Joel Cohen	Provided detailed estimates, derived from MEPS, of the age distribution of policyholders at small and large employers.
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, HHS	Estimates of the concentration of health care expenditures	11/10	Tom Selden	Using the most recent MEPS-HC data, provided detailed estimates of the cut-off points and thresholds for the concentration of medical care expenditures by deciles and the top 1st and 5th percentiles.

Requests for data and publications: Descriptive statistics for all assistance provided are available upon request. Please contact Cindy Nunley at cindy.nunley@ahrq.hhs.gov.

Note: HHS is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; MEPS is the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey.

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Page last reviewed December 2010

Internet Citation: Informing Health Initiatives: Summary of Requests and Assistance Provided, July 2010-November 2010. December 2010. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. https://archive.ahrq.gov/policymakers/health-initiatives/summaries/ihisum1210.html