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AHRQ Research Studies Date
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- Access to Care (4)
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- Dental and Oral Health (1)
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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 10 of 10 Research Studies DisplayedMellor JM, McInerney M, Garrow RC
The impact of Medicaid expansion on spending and utilization by older low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
This study examined indirect spillover effects of Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansions to working-age adults on health care coverage, spending, and utilization by older low-income Medicare beneficiaries. The authors used data from the 2010-2018 Health and Retirement Study survey linked to annual Medicare beneficiary summary files. They estimated individual-level difference-in-differences models of total spending for inpatient, institutional outpatient, physician/professional provider services; inpatient stays, outpatient visits, physician visits; and Medicaid and Part A and B Medicare coverage. They also compared changes in outcomes before and after Medicaid expansion in expansion versus nonexpansion states. The sample included low-income respondents aged 69 and older with linked Medicare data, enrolled in full-year traditional Medicare, and living in the community. ACA Medicaid expansion was associated with a 9.8 percentage point increase in Medicaid coverage, a 4.4 percentage point increase in having any institutional outpatient spending, and a positive but statistically insignificant 2.4 percentage point change in Part B enrollment.
AHRQ-funded; HS025422.
Citation: Mellor JM, McInerney M, Garrow RC .
The impact of Medicaid expansion on spending and utilization by older low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
Health Serv Res 2023 Oct; 58(5):1024-34. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.14155..
Keywords: Medicaid, Medicare, Low-Income, Healthcare Utilization, Healthcare Costs, Health Insurance
Roberts ET, Kwon Y, Hames AG
Racial and ethnic disparities in health care use and access associated with loss of Medicaid supplemental insurance eligibility above the federal poverty level.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether exceeding the income threshold for Medicaid, which causes a sudden loss of Medicaid eligibility, is related with higher racial and ethnic disparities in access to and use of care. The researchers evaluated Medicare beneficiaries with incomes 0% to 200% of FPL from the 2008 to 2018 biennial waves of the Health and Retirement Study linked to Medicare administrative data. To identify racial and ethnic disparities related with the loss of Medicaid eligibility, the researchers compared discontinuities in outcomes among Black and Hispanic beneficiaries and White beneficiaries. Analyses were conducted between January 1, 2022, and October 1, 2022. The primary outcomes were patient-reported challenges accessing care due to cost and outpatient service use, medication fills, and hospitalizations measured from Medicare administrative data. The study included 8,144 participants representing 151,282, 957 weighted person-years in the community-dwelling population of Medicare beneficiaries aged 50 years and older and incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Study findings indicate that exceeding the Medicaid eligibility threshold was related with a 43.8 percentage point (pp) lower probability of Medicaid enrollment among Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries and a 31.0 pp lower probability of Medicaid enrollment among White beneficiaries. Among Black and Hispanic beneficiaries, exceeding the threshold was associated with increased cost-related barriers to care, lower outpatient use, and fewer medication fills, but it was not associated with a statistically significant discontinuity in hospitalizations. Discontinuities in these outcomes were smaller or nonsignificant among White beneficiaries. Consequently, exceeding the threshold was associated with widened disparities, including greater reductions in outpatient service use and medication fills among Black and Hispanic vs White beneficiaries.
AHRQ-funded; HS026727.
Citation: Roberts ET, Kwon Y, Hames AG .
Racial and ethnic disparities in health care use and access associated with loss of Medicaid supplemental insurance eligibility above the federal poverty level.
JAMA Intern Med 2023 Jun; 183(6):534-43. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.0512..
Keywords: Disparities, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Medicaid, Access to Care, Health Insurance, Low-Income, Access to Care
Roberts ET, McGarry BE, Glynn A
Cognition and take-up of the Medicare Savings Programs.
In this study, the investigators examined the association between cognition and Medicare Savings Program (MSP) enrollment among elderly Medicare beneficiaries who qualified for these programs. They also examined enrollment in the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), a separate program that provides premium and cost-sharing assistance in Medicare Part D that Medicare beneficiaries automatically received if they are enrolled in an MSP.
AHRQ-funded; HS026727.
Citation: Roberts ET, McGarry BE, Glynn A .
Cognition and take-up of the Medicare Savings Programs.
JAMA Intern Med 2020 Nov;180(11):1529-31. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2783..
Keywords: Elderly, Medicare, Health Insurance, Healthcare Costs, Low-Income, Dementia, Neurological Disorders
Fung V, Price M, Nierenberg AA
Assessment of behavioral health services use among low-income Medicare beneficiaries after reductions in coinsurance fees.
This study looked at outcomes from reducing behavioral health care Medicare coinsurance from 50% to 20% from 2009 to 2013. The sample of patients looked at included some diagnosed with SMI (serious mental illness) including schizophrenia, bipolar, or major depressive disorder). Data analysis was performed on 793,275 beneficiaries with SMI in 2008 and compared them with costs in 2013. The mean adjusted out-of-pocket costs for outpatient behavioral care decreased from $132 annually to $64, but the number of visits only increased slightly. No association was found between cost-sharing reductions and changes in behavioral health care visits.
AHRQ-funded; HS024725.
Citation: Fung V, Price M, Nierenberg AA .
Assessment of behavioral health services use among low-income Medicare beneficiaries after reductions in coinsurance fees.
JAMA Netw Open 2020 Oct;3(10):e2019854. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.19854..
Keywords: Medicare, Health Insurance, Depression, Behavioral Health, Low-Income, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Utilization
Khouja T, Burgette JM, Donohue JM
Association between Medicaid expansion, dental coverage policies for adults, and children's receipt of preventive dental services.
Researchers examined whether low-income children's use of preventive dental services is linked to variation in state Medicaid policies that affect parents' access to dental care in Medicaid. Using MEPS data along with Area Health Resources File and Medicaid adult dental coverage policies, they found no change in children's receipt of preventive dental care associated with Medicaid expansions in states that covered vs did not cover preventive dental services for adults. They concluded that factors other than parental access to dental benefits through Medicaid may be more salient determinants of preventive dental care use among low-income children.
AHRQ-funded; HS026727.
Citation: Khouja T, Burgette JM, Donohue JM .
Association between Medicaid expansion, dental coverage policies for adults, and children's receipt of preventive dental services.
Health Serv Res 2020 Oct;55(5):642-50. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13324..
Keywords: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), Children/Adolescents, Dental and Oral Health, Medicaid, Health Insurance, Low-Income, Access to Care, Policy
Selden TM, Lipton BJ, Decker SL
AHRQ Author: Selden TM, Lipton BJ, Decker SL
Medicaid expansion and marketplace eligibility both increased coverage, with trade-offs in access, affordability.
The researchers found that as of 2015, adults with incomes of 100-138 percent of the federal poverty level had experienced large declines in uninsurance rates in both expansion and nonexpansion states. Adults in expansion and nonexpansion states also experienced similar increases in having a usual source of care and primary care visits, and similar reductions in delayed receipt of medical care due to cost.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Selden TM, Lipton BJ, Decker SL .
Medicaid expansion and marketplace eligibility both increased coverage, with trade-offs in access, affordability.
Health Aff 2017 Dec;36(12):2069-77. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0830.
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Keywords: Access to Care, Health Insurance, Policy, Low-Income, Medicaid, Uninsured
Hudson JL, Moriya AS
AHRQ Author: Hudson JL, Moriya AS
Medicaid expansion for adults had measurable 'welcome mat' effects on their children.
This study used data from the 2013-15 American Community Survey to provide the first national-level (analytical) estimates of welcome-mat effects on children's coverage post Affordable Care Act (ACA). It estimated that 710,000 low-income children gained coverage through these effects. The study was also the first to show a link between parents' eligibility for Medicaid and welcome-mat effects for their children under the ACA.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Hudson JL, Moriya AS .
Medicaid expansion for adults had measurable 'welcome mat' effects on their children.
Health Aff 2017 Sep;36(9):1643-51. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0347.
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Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Health Insurance, Policy, Low-Income
Heintzman J, Bailey SR, DeVoe J
In low-income Latino patients, post-affordable care act insurance disparities may be reduced even more than broader national estimates: evidence from Oregon.
This study compared the insurance status of low-income patients served in 23 community health centers (CHCs) in Oregon, by race/ethnicity and language, over a period of 6 years straddling the implementation of ACA-related Medicaid expansion in 2014. It found that among previously uninsured low-income patients returning to Oregon CHCs, insurance disparities were eliminated after Medicaid expansion, especially in Spanish-speaking Latinos.
AHRQ-funded; HS021522; HS024270.
Citation: Heintzman J, Bailey SR, DeVoe J .
In low-income Latino patients, post-affordable care act insurance disparities may be reduced even more than broader national estimates: evidence from Oregon.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities 2017 Jun;4(3):329-36. doi: 10.1007/s40615-016-0232-1.
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Keywords: Disparities, Health Insurance, Policy, Low-Income, Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Sommers BD, Maylone B, Blendon RJ
Three-year impacts of the Affordable Care Act: improved medical care and health among low-income adults.
Using survey data collected from low-income adults through the end of 2016 in three states: Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid; Arkansas, which expanded private insurance to low-income adults using the federal Marketplace; and Texas, which did not expand coverage, researchers found that by the end of 2016 the uninsurance rate in the two expansion states had dropped by more than 20 percentage points relative to the nonexpansion state.
AHRQ-funded; HS021291.
Citation: Sommers BD, Maylone B, Blendon RJ .
Three-year impacts of the Affordable Care Act: improved medical care and health among low-income adults.
Health Aff 2017 Jun;36(6):1119-28. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0293.
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Keywords: Policy, Low-Income, Access to Care, Health Insurance, Uninsured
Decker SL, Lipton BJ, Sommers BD
AHRQ Author: Decker SL, Lipton BJ
Medicaid expansion coverage effects grew in 2015 with continued improvements in coverage quality.
The researchers used detailed federal survey data through 2015 to analyze recent changes in coverage for low-income adults after the expansion associated with the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) Medicaid expansion in 2014. They found that the uninsurance rate fell in both expansion and nonexpansion states but that it fell significantly more in expansion states.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; HS021291.
Citation: Decker SL, Lipton BJ, Sommers BD .
Medicaid expansion coverage effects grew in 2015 with continued improvements in coverage quality.
Health Aff 2017 May;36(5):819-25. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1462.
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Keywords: Medicaid, Low-Income, Health Insurance, Uninsured, Policy