Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel: Early Data on Health Care Utilization after Coverage Expansion

(Health Policy)

The researchers on this health policy panel will examine early data from the 2014 expansion of health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as evidence from an ACA-like state Medicaid waiver expansion, to explore several utilization-related outcomes along with outcomes having to do with coverage and health status. These analyses will have important implications for health system planning and will add to the body of evidence surrounding the impact of coverage expansion in general and state decisions to expand Medicaid in particular. The first speaker will present a pre-post analysis using the 2014 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to examine the short-run effects of the ACA Medicaid expansion on insurance coverage, access to care, and health status among the expansion population, comparing outcomes for expansion and non-expansion states. The second panelist will use private claims data and Medicaid enrollment files to measure changes in health care utilization after enrollment into a public insurance program for low-income childless adults in Wisconsin. The third speaker will use private claims data to examine whether there is evidence of pent-up demand for health care among newly-insured adults in individual and family health insurance plans and Medicaid under the ACA in Minnesota. The final speaker will use data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), the American Hospital Association annual survey, and the Area Health Resource File to examine the effects of California’s early ACA coverage expansions on inpatient and emergency department utilization of safety net hospitals.