National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
Latest available findings on quality of and access to health care
Data
- Data Infographics
- Data Visualizations
- Data Tools
- Data Innovations
- All-Payer Claims Database
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
- AHRQ Quality Indicator Tools for Data Analytics
- State Snapshots
- United States Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK)
- Data Sources Available from AHRQ
Search All Research Studies
AHRQ Research Studies Date
Topics
- (-) Access to Care (11)
- Cancer (1)
- Cancer: Cervical Cancer (1)
- Children/Adolescents (1)
- COVID-19 (1)
- Dental and Oral Health (1)
- Disparities (1)
- Genetics (1)
- Healthcare Costs (5)
- Healthcare Delivery (1)
- Healthcare Utilization (1)
- (-) Health Insurance (11)
- Hospitalization (1)
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (1)
- Low-Income (1)
- Medicaid (6)
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) (1)
- Medicare (3)
- Payment (1)
- Policy (6)
- Prevention (1)
- Primary Care (1)
- Sexual Health (1)
- Social Determinants of Health (1)
- Uninsured (1)
- Women (2)
AHRQ Research Studies
Sign up: AHRQ Research Studies Email updates
Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 11 of 11 Research Studies DisplayedLipton BJ, Finlayson TL
AHRQ Author: Decker SL
The association between Medicaid adult dental coverage and children's oral health.
This study examined the association of Medicaid adult dental coverage and children’s oral health as Medicaid-eligible children are more likely to experience tooth decay than children in higher-income families. Data from the 1996-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 2003, 2007, and 2011-12 waves of the National Survey of Children’s Health was used. Adult dental coverage was associated with a 5-percentage-point reduction in the prevalence of untreated caries among children after Medicaid-enrolled adults had access to dental coverage for at least one year. Children under twelve years of age were the most affected.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Lipton BJ, Finlayson TL .
The association between Medicaid adult dental coverage and children's oral health.
Health Aff 2021 Nov;40(11):1731-39. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01135..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Dental and Oral Health, Medicaid, Health Insurance, Access to Care
Roberts ET, Desai SM
Does Medicaid coverage of Medicare cost sharing affect physician care for dual-eligible Medicare beneficiaries?
The objective of this paper was to assess changes in physicians' provision of care to duals (low-income individuals with Medicare and Medicaid) in response to a policy that required Medicaid to fully pay Medicare's cost sharing for office visits with these patients. This policy-a provision of the Affordable Care Act-effectively increased payments for office visits with duals by 0%-20%, depending on the state, in 2013 and 2014.
AHRQ-funded; HS026727; HS026980.
Citation: Roberts ET, Desai SM .
Does Medicaid coverage of Medicare cost sharing affect physician care for dual-eligible Medicare beneficiaries?
Health Serv Res 2021 Jun;56(3):528-39. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13650..
Keywords: Medicare, Medicaid, Health Insurance, Access to Care, Healthcare Costs, Low-Income
Chow JY, Nijhawan AE, Mathews WC
Hospitalization rates among persons with HIV who gained Medicaid or private insurance after the Affordable Care Act in 2014.
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether gaining inpatient healthcare coverage had an effect on hospitalization rates among persons with HIV following implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2014. Hospitalization data from 2015 were obtained on adults receiving longitudinal care at HIV clinics; all patients were previously uninsured and supported by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) in 2013. Findings showed that acquiring inpatient coverage was not associated with a change in hospitalization rates.
AHRQ-funded; 290201100007C.
Citation: Chow JY, Nijhawan AE, Mathews WC .
Hospitalization rates among persons with HIV who gained Medicaid or private insurance after the Affordable Care Act in 2014.
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2021 Jun 1;87(2):776-80. doi: 10.1097/qai.0000000000002645..
Keywords: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hospitalization, Medicaid, Health Insurance, Access to Care, Policy
Fung V, McCarthy S, Price M
Payment discrepancies and access to primary care physicians for dual-eligible Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries.
This study examined whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) primary care fee bump for dual-eligible Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries impacted primary care physicians (PCP) acceptance of duals. The authors assessed differences in the likelihood that PCPs had dual caseloads of ≥10% or 20% in states with lower versus full dual reimbursement using linear probability models adjusted for physician and area-level traits. The proportion of PCPs with dual caseloads of ≥10% or 20% decreased significantly between 2012 and 2017. The fee bump was not consistently associated with increases in dual caseloads.
AHRQ-funded; HS024725.
Citation: Fung V, McCarthy S, Price M .
Payment discrepancies and access to primary care physicians for dual-eligible Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries.
Med Care 2021 Jun;59(6):487-94. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001525..
Keywords: Primary Care, Medicaid, Medicare, Health Insurance, Payment, Access to Care
Anderson KE, Shugarman LR, Davenport K
Regulation of provider networks in response to COVID-19.
The authors anticipate that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic will have 3 main effects on provider networks and their regulation: enrollment changes, changes to the provider landscape, and changes to care delivery. They suggested that telehealth will have a larger role in care delivery than in the pre-pandemic period, and that regulators will need to adapt network standards to accommodate in-person and virtual care delivery.
AHRQ-funded; HS000029.
Citation: Anderson KE, Shugarman LR, Davenport K .
Regulation of provider networks in response to COVID-19.
Am J Manag Care 2021 Apr;27(4):e101-e04. doi: 10.37765/ajmc.2021.88614..
Keywords: Health Insurance, Policy, Access to Care, Healthcare Delivery, COVID-19
Moniz MH, Peahl AF, Fendrick AM
Cost sharing, postpartum contraceptive use, and short interpregnancy interval rates among commercially insured women.
This study compared postpartum contraceptive use among women who had high, low, or no cost sharing for different types of contraception. The authors conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of commercially insured women undergoing childbirth from 2014 to 2018 using Optum's (Eden Prairie, MN) de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart database. The women were included if they had continuous enrollment for 12 months postpartum. Among 25,298 plans with cost sharing data, 172,941 women were identified, including 47.7% with no cost sharing, 13.1% in low cost sharing, and 39.2% in high cost sharing plans. Women in no cost sharing plans had a higher predicted probability of using long-acting reversible contraceptives and a lower predicted probability of no prescription method use than those in low or high cost sharing plans. There was no difference in short interpregnancy intervals between the plan cost sharing types.
AHRQ-funded; HS025465.
Citation: Moniz MH, Peahl AF, Fendrick AM .
Cost sharing, postpartum contraceptive use, and short interpregnancy interval rates among commercially insured women.
Am J Obstet Gynecol 2021 Mar;224(3):282.e1-82.e17. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2020.08.109..
Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Women, Health Insurance, Access to Care, Sexual Health
Polsky D, Wu B
Provider networks and health plan premium variation.
The purpose of this study was to examine how plan premiums are associated with physician network breadth, hospital network breadth, and hospital network quality on the Affordable Care Act's Health Insurance Marketplaces in all 50 states and the DC in 2016. The investigators concluded that physician network breadth and hospital network breadth contributed positively to plan premiums.
AHRQ-funded; HS025976.
Citation: Polsky D, Wu B .
Provider networks and health plan premium variation.
Health Serv Res 2021 Feb;56(1):16-24. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13447..
Keywords: Health Insurance, Healthcare Costs, Policy, Access to Care
Jacobs PD
AHRQ Author: Jacobs PD
The impact of Medicare on access to and affordability of health care.
Jacobs used MEPS data and the National Health Interview Survey to test for changes in access to care and affordability around age sixty-five and found that Medicare eligibility is associated with a reduction in reports of being unable to get necessary care as well as a reduction in not being able to get needed care because of the cost. The author concluded that incremental Medicare expansions could have positive access and affordability benefits for enrollees compared with the insurance options available to them before they turn sixty-five.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Jacobs PD .
The impact of Medicare on access to and affordability of health care.
Health Aff 2021 Feb;40(2):266-73. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00940..
Keywords: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), Access to Care, Healthcare Costs, Health Insurance
Fung V, Price M, Hull P
Assessment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's increase in fees for primary care and access to care for dual-eligible beneficiaries.
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the Affordable Care Act (ACA) fee bump and primary care visits for dual-eligible Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. Medicare claims data from 2012 to 2016 was used. Findings showed that the ACA fee bump was not associated with increases in primary care visits for dual-eligible Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. Additionally, visits for dual-eligible beneficiaries with primary care physicians decreased after the ACA, a decrease that was partially offset by increases in visits with nonphysician clinicians.
AHRQ-funded; HS024725; HS025378.
Citation: Fung V, Price M, Hull P .
Assessment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's increase in fees for primary care and access to care for dual-eligible beneficiaries.
JAMA Netw Open 2021 Jan;4(1):e2033424. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.33424..
Keywords: Access to Care, Medicaid, Medicare, Health Insurance, Healthcare Costs, Policy
Hatch B, Hoopes M, Darney BG
Impacts of the Affordable Care Act on receipt of women's preventive services in Community Health Centers in Medicaid expansion and nonexpansion states.
Researchers assessed whether ACA implementation and Medicaid expansion were followed by greater receipt of recommended preventive services among women and girls in a large network of community health centers. Data was collected from electronic health records in 14 states. The researchers found that among female patients at community health centers, receipt of recommended preventive care improved after ACA implementation in both Medicaid expansion and non-expansion states, although the overall rates remained low. They recommended continued support to overcome barriers to preventive care in this population.
AHRQ-funded; HS025155.
Citation: Hatch B, Hoopes M, Darney BG .
Impacts of the Affordable Care Act on receipt of women's preventive services in Community Health Centers in Medicaid expansion and nonexpansion states.
Womens Health Issues 2021 Jan-Feb;31(1):9-16. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2020.08.011..
Keywords: Cancer, Medicaid, Health Insurance, Uninsured, Access to Care, Policy, Cancer: Cervical Cancer, Prevention, Women, Healthcare Utilization
Hammad Mrig E
Integrating fundamental cause theory and Bourdieu to explain pathways between socioeconomic status and health: the case of health insurance denials for genetic testing.
This paper proposes that Pierre Bourdieu's theories of capital and symbolic power can be integrated with fundamental cause theory to address limitations in the latter theory, making it more useful in health disparities research. This work deepens appreciation for the durable relationship between socioeconomic status and health. Study results reveal the multiple and complex mechanisms that play a role in access to healthcare services, which has significant implications for how we think about the role of health policy in addressing health disparities.
AHRQ-funded; HS017589.
Citation: Hammad Mrig E .
Integrating fundamental cause theory and Bourdieu to explain pathways between socioeconomic status and health: the case of health insurance denials for genetic testing.
Sociol Health Illn 2021 Jan;43(1):133-48. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.13195..
Keywords: Social Determinants of Health, Disparities, Health Insurance, Access to Care, Genetics, Policy