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Medicaid

Immigration Legislation
commentary
A Threat to Immigrant Health Care with Potential Consequences for All
Kathryn Pitkin Derose
Oct 12, 2018
The Hill
The proposed changes to the “public charge” rule could jeopardize decades of progress towards improved health care access and health for immigrants and U.S. citizens. Negative effects may include worse health outcomes, increased use of emergency rooms, and increased prevalence of communicable diseases.
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United States
blog
A Summer Reading List for Congress
Jul 31, 2014
No matter how policymakers spend their break—meeting with home-state constituents, traveling abroad with congressional delegations, or spending time with family—this summer reading list contains policy ideas that can help them hit the ground running when they return.
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Affordable Care Act
commentary
Tracking the Affordable Care Act with the RAND Health Reform Opinion Study
Katherine Grace Carman @KGCarman
Apr 22, 2014
RWJF's Human Capital Blog
The HROS uses panel data to track changes in public opinion regarding the ACA and insurance coverage. By surveying the same respondents each month, the HROS observes not only aggregate changes, but also individual changes in opinion or insurance coverage over time.
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Primary Care
commentary
Improving Physical Health Care for Adults with Serious Mental Illness
Deborah M. Scharf
Apr 14, 2014
The RAND Blog
A promising strategy for helping adults with serious mental illness gain access to appropriate primary and preventive medical services is to integrate those services into a setting in which the population already receives care.
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Affordable Care Act
commentary
Survey Estimates Net Gain of 9.3 Million American Adults with Health Insurance
Katherine Grace Carman @KGCarman, Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner
Apr 8, 2014
The RAND Blog
Early survey evidence indicates that the Affordable Care Act has already led to a substantial increase in insurance coverage. Consistent with the ACA's design, this gain in insurance has come not only from new enrollment in the marketplaces, but also from new enrollment in employer coverage and Medicaid.
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Health Care Costs
commentary
Is the ACA Keeping a Lid on Growth in Healthcare Spending?
Chapin White @ChapinWhite
Apr 3, 2014
The Hill
Some point to the healthcare spending slowdown as an early success of the Affordable Care Act. Others warn that it's merely a hangover from the recession, and that the inevitable spending rebound will be exacerbated by the ACA coverage expansions.
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Affordable Care Act
commentary
Who Does the Affordable Care Act Leave Behind?
Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner, Evan Saltzman
Mar 7, 2014
The RAND Blog
Although one of the primary objectives of the Affordable Care Act is to achieve near-universal health insurance coverage, the Congressional Budget Office projects that 30 million residents, more than 10 percent of the nonelderly population, will remain uninsured after the major provisions of the ACA take full effect.
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Affordable Care Act
commentary
First Steps on a Long Road: Three Key Findings from ACA's Early Enrollment Numbers
Chapin White @ChapinWhite, Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner
Feb 10, 2014
Health Affairs Blog
The vision of the ACA was “no wrong door” and an affordable option for everyone, but it appears based on the data available so far that, in the non-Medicaid expansion states, there is a closed door.
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$boy getting checkup$
Medicaid
q&a
Quick Takes: The Math of Medicaid Expansion
Oct 21, 2013
The RAND Blog
Expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is both contentious and complicated. RAND mathematician Carter Price has been using the COMPARE model to help those making decisions understand what their choices mean for their budgets and population health.
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Affordable Care Act
commentary
Medicaid Access for the Formerly Incarcerated Under the ACA: Helping the Oft-Forgotten
Lois M. Davis @LoisMDavis
Oct 3, 2013
The RAND Blog
America's prison population tends to be sicker than the general population. While Medicaid eligibility under the ACA offers an historic opportunity, enrolling the formerly incarcerated into the health exchanges or Medicaid will be neither simple nor straightforward.
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commentary
Will the Affordable Care Act Make Health Care More Affordable?
Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner
Oct 1, 2013
The Health Care Blog
Out-of-pocket spending on health care will decrease for both the newly insured as well as for those changing their source of insurance. These decreases will be largest for those who would otherwise be uninsured.
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Affordable Care Act
blog
Ask Me Anything: Carter Price on the Affordable Care Act
Oct 1, 2013
As of October 1, many Americans can now shop for health insurance through state exchanges created as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the sweeping health care reform often referred to as 'Obamacare.' To provide some insight into the ACA, RAND's Carter Price hosted an 'Ask Me Anything' session on Reddit today.
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Affordable Care Act
commentary
Will ACA Implementation Lead to a Spike in Demand for Care?
David I. Auerbach
Sep 27, 2013
The Health Care Blog
The growing number of Americans newly-insured under the ACA will undoubtedly lead to a surge in demand for care, whether through Medicaid or insurance exchanges. But, if predictions hold, the increase won't be as dramatic as some may fear, writes David I. Auerbach.
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Health Literacy
commentary
Applying What Works to Reduce Non-Urgent Emergency Department Use
Lori Uscher-Pines
May 22, 2013
The RAND Blog
It is likely that communities with low rates of non-urgent ED use not only have better access to primary care, but patients who are educated about appropriate care seeking and convenient alternatives for acute care, writes Lori Uscher-Pines.
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Medicaid
commentary
Governors Missing the Point on Medicaid
Carter C. Price @CarterCPrice
Apr 29, 2013
CNN
While a governor or legislator may disagree with Medicaid expansion for philosophical reasons, the claims that the expansion will be a burden on states' economies seem misguided given the full range of projected economic impacts on the states, writes Carter C. Price.
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Affordable Care Act
blog
Modeling the Effects of the Affordable Care Act in Arkansas
Carter C. Price @CarterCPrice
Jan 7, 2013
The Medicaid expansion under the ACA will result in about 400,000 people newly insured in Arkansas by 2016. Of these, about 190,000 would be newly enrolled in Medicaid and the rest would be newly insured through the new insurance exchanges. The state is likely to save about $67 million for reduced uncompensated care costs for the uninsured.
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Affordable Care Act
commentary
Health Care Costs Must Be Curbed, No Matter Who Wins
Arthur L. Kellermann
Oct 17, 2012
The Orange County Register
Regardless of which candidate wins in November, and regardless of whether “Obamacare” is repealed, amended, or defended by the next Congress, the next president will have to contend with the spiraling cost of health care in the United States—a problem that is growing more acute with each passing year, writes Arthur Kellermann.
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Emergency Medical Services
blog
Caring for the Uninsured: What Role Do Emergency Rooms Play?
Oct 9, 2012
Absent from the discussion about health care during the first debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney was any mention of one of the main providers of care for America's uninsured: emergency rooms. What does research tell us about the use of ERs and the relevant implications on health care access and cost?
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Health Disparities
commentary
Be Hungry or Be Sick? Proposed Medi-Cal Co-Pay Could Force the Choice for Many
Arthur L. Kellermann, Robin M. Weinick
Jun 20, 2012
The RAND Blog
The $15 co-pay a mother is expected to cover represents half of a full week's food costs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
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Health Care Access
blog
Attempts by States to Save Money by Locking Medicaid Enrollees out of the ED Are Likely to Backfire
Robin M. Weinick
May 21, 2012
In a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, we argue that attempts by states to save money by seeking to lock Medicaid enrollees out of the emergency department are likely to backfire. We argue that a better solution is to reverse what for many years has been a trend of shrinking access to primary care for Medicaid beneficiaries.
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Health Care Access
commentary
Emergency Departments, Medicaid Costs, and Access to Primary Care—Understanding the Link
Arthur L. Kellermann, Robin M. Weinick
May 18, 2012
New England Journal of Medicine
The fact that many ED (emergency department) visits could be managed in primary care settings does not mean that such care is available, write Arthur L. Kellermann and Robin M. Weinick.
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