The Value of Medicaid: Interpreting Results from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Finkelstein A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8081392 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:In 2008, a group of uninsured low-income adults in Oregon was selected by lottery for the chance to apply for Medicaid. Using this randomized design and state administrative data on voter behavior, we analyze how a Medicaid expansion affected voter turnout and registration. We find that Medicaid increased voter turnout in the November 2008 Presidential election by about 7 percent overall, with the effects concentrated in men (18 percent increase) and in residents of Democratic counties (10 percent increase); there is suggestive evidence that the increase in voting reflected new voter registrations, rather than increased turnout among pre-existing registrants. There is no evidence of an increase in voter turnout in subsequent elections, up to and including the November 2010 midterm election.
| S-EPMC8021132 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In the United States, health insurance is not universal. Observational studies show an association between uninsured parents and children. This association persisted even after expansions in child-only public health insurance. Oregon's randomized Medicaid expansion for adults, known as the Oregon Experiment, created a rare opportunity to assess causality between parent and child coverage.To estimate the effect on a child's health insurance coverage status when (1) a parent randomly gains access to health insurance and (2) a parent obtains coverage.Oregon Experiment randomized natural experiment assessing the results of Oregon's 2008 Medicaid expansion. We used generalized estimating equation models to examine the longitudinal effect of a parent randomly selected to apply for Medicaid on their child's Medicaid or Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage (intent-to-treat analyses). We used per-protocol analyses to understand the impact on children's coverage when a parent was randomly selected to apply for and obtained Medicaid. Participants included 14409 children aged 2 to 18 years whose parents participated in the Oregon Experiment.For intent-to-treat analyses, the date a parent was selected to apply for Medicaid was considered the date the child was exposed to the intervention. In per-protocol analyses, exposure was defined as whether a selected parent obtained Medicaid.Children's Medicaid or CHIP coverage, assessed monthly and in 6-month intervals relative to their parent's selection date.In the immediate period after selection, children whose parents were selected to apply significantly increased from 3830 (61.4%) to 4152 (66.6%) compared with a nonsignificant change from 5049 (61.8%) to 5044 (61.7%) for children whose parents were not selected to apply. Children whose parents were randomly selected to apply for Medicaid had 18% higher odds of being covered in the first 6 months after parent's selection compared with children whose parents were not selected (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=1.18; 95% CI, 1.10-1.27). The effect remained significant during months 7 to 12 (AOR=1.11; 95% CI, 1.03-1.19); months 13 to 18 showed a positive but not significant effect (AOR=1.07; 95% CI, 0.99-1.14). Children whose parents were selected and obtained coverage had more than double the odds of having coverage compared with children whose parents were not selected and did not gain coverage (AOR=2.37; 95% CI, 2.14-2.64).Children's odds of having Medicaid or CHIP coverage increased when their parents were randomly selected to apply for Medicaid. Children whose parents were selected and subsequently obtained coverage benefited most. This study demonstrates a causal link between parents' access to Medicaid coverage and their children's coverage.
| S-EPMC4918752 | biostudies-other
Project description:Medicaid expansions through the Affordable Care Act began in January 2014, but we have little information about what is happening in rural areas where provider access and patient resources might be more limited. In 2008, Oregon held a lottery for restricted access to its Medicaid program for uninsured low-income adults not otherwise eligible for public coverage. The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment used this opportunity to conduct the first randomized controlled study of a public insurance expansion. This analysis builds off of previous work by comparing rural and urban survey outcomes and adds qualitative interviews with 86 rural study participants for context. We examine health care access and use, personal finances, and self-reported health. While urban and rural populations have unique demographic profiles, rural populations appear to have benefited from Medicaid as much as urban. Qualitative interviews revealed the distinctive challenges still facing low-income uninsured and newly insured rural populations.
| S-EPMC5726939 | biostudies-other
Project description:ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of Medicaid coverage on dental care outcomes, a major health concern for low-income populations.Data sourcesPrimary and secondary data on health care use and outcomes for participants in Oregon's 2008 Medicaid lottery.Study designWe used the lottery's random selection to gauge the causal effects of Medicaid on dental care needs, medication, and emergency department visits for dental care.Data collectionData were collected for lottery participants over 2 years, including mail surveys (N = 23,777) and in-person questionnaires (N = 12,229). Emergency department (ED) records were matched to lottery participants in Portland (N = 24,646).Principal findingsMedicaid coverage significantly reduced the share of respondents who reported needing dental care (-9.8 percentage points, p < .001) or having unmet dental care needs (-13.5 percentage points, p < 0.001). Medicaid doubled the share visiting the ED for dental care (+2.6 percentage points, p = .003) and the use of anti-infective medications often prescribed for dental care, but it had no detectable effect on uncovered dental care or out-of-pocket spending.ConclusionsExpansion of Medicaid covering emergency dental care substantially reduced unmet need for dental care, increasing ED dental visits and medication use, while not changing patient use of uncovered dental services.
| S-EPMC6052006 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In 2008, a group of uninsured low-income adults in Oregon was selected by lottery to be given the chance to apply for Medicaid. This lottery provides an opportunity to gauge the effects of expanding access to public health insurance on the health care use, financial strain, and health of low-income adults using a randomized controlled design. In the year after random assignment, the treatment group selected by the lottery was about 25 percentage points more likely to have insurance than the control group that was not selected. We find that in this first year, the treatment group had substantively and statistically significantly higher health care utilization (including primary and preventive care as well as hospitalizations), lower out-of-pocket medical expenditures and medical debt (including fewer bills sent to collection), and better self-reported physical and mental health than the control group.
| S-EPMC3535298 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundDespite the imminent expansion of Medicaid coverage for low-income adults, the effects of expanding coverage are unclear. The 2008 Medicaid expansion in Oregon based on lottery drawings from a waiting list provided an opportunity to evaluate these effects.MethodsApproximately 2 years after the lottery, we obtained data from 6387 adults who were randomly selected to be able to apply for Medicaid coverage and 5842 adults who were not selected. Measures included blood-pressure, cholesterol, and glycated hemoglobin levels; screening for depression; medication inventories; and self-reported diagnoses, health status, health care utilization, and out-of-pocket spending for such services. We used the random assignment in the lottery to calculate the effect of Medicaid coverage.ResultsWe found no significant effect of Medicaid coverage on the prevalence or diagnosis of hypertension or high cholesterol levels or on the use of medication for these conditions. Medicaid coverage significantly increased the probability of a diagnosis of diabetes and the use of diabetes medication, but we observed no significant effect on average glycated hemoglobin levels or on the percentage of participants with levels of 6.5% or higher. Medicaid coverage decreased the probability of a positive screening for depression (-9.15 percentage points; 95% confidence interval, -16.70 to -1.60; P=0.02), increased the use of many preventive services, and nearly eliminated catastrophic out-of-pocket medical expenditures.ConclusionsThis randomized, controlled study showed that Medicaid coverage generated no significant improvements in measured physical health outcomes in the first 2 years, but it did increase use of health care services, raise rates of diabetes detection and management, lower rates of depression, and reduce financial strain.
| S-EPMC3701298 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In 2008, Oregon initiated a limited expansion of a Medicaid program for uninsured, low-income adults, drawing names from a waiting list by lottery. This lottery created a rare opportunity to study the effects of Medicaid coverage by using a randomized controlled design. By using the randomization provided by the lottery and emergency-department records from Portland-area hospitals, we studied the emergency department use of about 25,000 lottery participants over about 18 months after the lottery. We found that Medicaid coverage significantly increases overall emergency use by 0.41 visits per person, or 40% relative to an average of 1.02 visits per person in the control group. We found increases in emergency-department visits across a broad range of types of visits, conditions, and subgroups, including increases in visits for conditions that may be most readily treatable in primary care settings.
| S-EPMC3955206 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveProvider networks for mental health are narrower than for other medical specialties. Providers' influence on access to care is potentially greater in Medicaid because enrollees are generally limited to contracted providers, without out-of-network options for nonemergency mental health care. The authors used claims-based metrics to examine variation in specialty mental health provider networks.MethodsIn a cross-sectional analysis of 2018 Oregon Medicaid claims data, claims from adults ages 18-64 years (N=100,515) with a psychiatric diagnosis were identified. In-network providers were identified as those associated with any medical claims filed for at least five unique Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in a health plan (coordinated care organization [CCO]) during the study period. Specialty mental health providers were categorized as prescribers (psychiatrists and mental health nurse practitioners) and nonprescribers (therapists, counselors, clinical nurse specialists, psychologists, and social workers). Measures of network composition, provider-to-population ratio, continuity, and concentration of care were calculated at the CCO level; the correlation between these measures was estimated to describe the degree to which they capture unique dimensions of provider networks.ResultsAcross 15 CCOs, the number of prescribing providers per 1,000 patients was relatively stable. CCOs that expanded their networks did so by increasing the number of nonprescribing providers. Moderately negative correlations were found between the nonprescriber provider-to-population ratio and proportions of visits with prescribers as well as with usual provider continuity.ConclusionsThis analysis advances future research and policy applications by offering a more nuanced view of provider network measurement and describing empirical variation across networks.
| S-EPMC9800638 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND: Major policy efforts to expand health coverage to the uninsured are under consideration. Drop-out among children in Medicaid--due to annual renewal requirements--is well-documented, but the recent extent of this problem among non-elderly adults is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the loss of health insurance over time among adults in Medicaid and identify risk factors for drop-out. DESIGN: Survival analysis of Medicaid enrollment, using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional-hazards regression. Data are from the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2000-2004. The sample consists of non-elderly adults (n = 4,992) and children (n = 8,559) in Medicaid. Insurance status after 12 months was measured for all individuals enrolled in Medicaid at the survey's outset. A survival analysis of disenrollment was then conducted for newly enrolled individuals. RESULTS: Nationwide, 2 million adults leave Medicaid and become uninsured annually. Disenrollment was significantly higher among adults than children (hazard ratio 1.75, 95% CI 1.65-1.86). Respectively, 20%, 43%, and 55% of adults disenrolled within 6, 12, and 23 months of initial enrollment. Lost eligibility explained a small portion of disenrollment. Six months after disenrolling, 17% had reenrolled in Medicaid, 34% had other insurance, and 49% were uninsured. Men, younger adults, and Hispanics were more likely to drop out; those in Medicaid managed care or with disabilities were less likely. Overall health status and diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and depression, had no effect on drop-out. CONCLUSIONS: Drop-out from Medicaid is a major problem among adults--even among those with chronic diseases--and contributes to the presence of millions of uninsured Americans. Policy efforts to expand health coverage must address poor Medicaid retention. Clinicians should be aware of this issue when caring for non-elderly adults in Medicaid.
| S-EPMC2607511 | biostudies-other
Project description:There is debate about whether community health centers (CHCs) will experience increased demand from patients gaining coverage through Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansions. To better understand the effect of new Medicaid coverage on CHC use over time, we studied Oregon's 2008 randomized Medicaid expansion (the "Oregon Experiment").We probabilistically matched demographic data from adults (aged 19-64 years) participating in the Oregon Experiment to electronic health record data from 108 Oregon CHCs within the OCHIN community health information network (originally the Oregon Community Health Information Network) (N = 34,849). We performed intent-to-treat analyses using zero-inflated Poisson regression models to compare 36-month (2008-2011) usage rates among those selected to apply for Medicaid vs not selected, and instrumental variable analyses to estimate the effect of gaining Medicaid coverage on use. Use outcomes included primary care visits, behavioral/mental health visits, laboratory tests, referrals, immunizations, and imaging.The intent-to-treat analyses revealed statistically significant differences in rates of behavioral/mental health visits, referrals, and imaging between patients randomly selected to apply for Medicaid vs those not selected. In instrumental variable analyses, gaining Medicaid coverage significantly increased the rate of primary care visits, laboratory tests, referrals, and imaging; rate ratios ranged from 1.27 (95% CI, 1.05-1.55) for laboratory tests to 1.58 (95% CI, 1.10-2.28) for referrals.Our results suggest that use of many different types of CHC services will increase as patients gain Medicaid through Affordable Care Act expansions. To maximize access to critical health services, it will be important to ensure that the health care system can support increasing demands by providing more resources to CHCs and other primary care settings.
| S-EPMC4508170 | biostudies-literature