Ryan M. McKenna

Insurance Type and Access to Health Care Providers and Appointments Under the Affordable Care Act

Background: Millions of adults have gained insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, disparities in access to care persist. Objective: This study examined differences in access to primary and specialty care among patients insured by private individual market insurance plans (both on-exchange and off-exchange) and Medicaid compared with those with employer-sponsored insurance. Research Design: Using data from the 2014 and 2015 California Health Interview Survey, logistic regression analyses were used to calculate the odds of being unable to access primary care providers, access specialty care providers and receive a needed doctor’s appointment in a timely manner, with insurance type serving as the independent variable. Interaction terms examined if the expiration of the ACA’s optional Medicaid primary care fee increase in 2014 modified any of these associations. Results: Findings showed poorer access to providers among those insured through Medicaid and the individual market (whether purchased through the state’s health insurance exchange or off-exchange) relative to employer-based insurance. Poor access to primary care providers was seen among private coverage purchased via exchanges, relative to private coverage purchased on the individual market. In addition, findings showed that reduction of Medicaid fees coincided with reduced ability to see primary care providers. However, a similar trend was seen among those with employer-based coverage, which suggests that this change may not be attributable to reductions in Medicaid fees. Conclusion: Despite ACA-related gains in insurance coverage, those with on-exchange and off-exchange individual private insurance plans and Medicaid encounter more barriers to care than those with employer-based insurance.

Treatment use, sources of payment, and financial barriers to treatment among individuals with opioid use disorder following the national implementation of the ACA

INTRODUCTION Despite increasing rates of opioid misuse and hospitalizations, rates of treatment for those with opioid use disorder (OUD) are very low. This study examined the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acts (ACA) insurance expansion on improving rates of insurance, health care access, and treatment for those with OUD. METHODS Data on individuals ages 18-64 with OUD come from the 2008-2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N=4100). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the trends of health care insurance, treatment and barriers to care across the stages of ACA implementation: pre-ACA (2008-2009), partial-ACA (2010-2013), and national implementation (2014). All models were adjusted for predisposing, enabling, and need factors. RESULTS In both adjusted and unadjusted comparisons, national implementation of the ACA was associated with significant improvements in outcome measures for those with OUD. Multivariable analyses indicate that, after national implementation, those with OUD were significantly less likely to be uninsured and were less likely to report financial barriers as a reason for not receiving substance use treatment, relative to the pre-ACA period. Individuals were also more likely to receive substance use treatment and were more likely to report that insurance paid for treatment after national implementation of the ACA relative to the pre-ACA period. These results persisted when national implementation was compared relative to partial-implementation. CONCLUSIONS National implementation of the ACA has helped to reduce rates of uninsurance, barriers to care, and improve rates of substance use treatment for those with OUD.

Insurance Coverage and Well-Child Visits Improved for Youth Under the Affordable Care Act, but Latino Youth Still Lag Behind

OBJECTIVE To examine whether there have been changes in insurance coverage and health care utilization for youth before and after the national implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to assess whether racial and ethnic inequities have improved. METHODS Data are from 64,565 youth (ages 0-17 years) participants in the 2011 to 2015 National Health Interview Survey. We conducted multivariate logistic regression analyses to determine how the period after national implementation of the ACA (years 2011-2013 vs years 2014-2015) was associated with health insurance coverage and utilization of health care services (well-child visits, having visited an emergency department, and having visited a physician, all in the past 12 months), and whether changes over the pre- and post-ACA periods varied according to race and Latino ethnicity. RESULTS The post-ACA period was associated with improvements in insurance coverage and well-child visits for all youth. Latino youth had the largest absolute gain in insurance coverage; however, they continued to have the highest proportion of uninsurance post national ACA implementation. With regard to health care equity, non-Latino black youth were less likely to be uninsured and Latino youth had no significant improvements in insurance coverage relative to non-Latino white youth after national ACA implementation. Inequities in health care utilization for non-Latino black and Latino youth relative to non-Latino white youth did not improve. CONCLUSIONS Insurance coverage and well-child visits have significantly improved for all youth since passage of the ACA, but inequities persist, especially for Latino youth.

Is HIT a hit? The impact of health information technology on inpatient hospital outcomes

ABSTRACT In an effort to eliminate inefficiencies in the US health care sector, policymakers have made a concerted effort to encourage hospitals and physicians to adopt health information technology (HIT) systems. Using a unique data set on HIT adoption and health outcomes in New York State, we conduct a hospital-level analysis identifying the impact of adopting HIT on inpatient outcomes (rates of adverse drug events and severity-adjusted mortality). Unlike previous studies, the patient population is not restricted to Medicare patients, but covers all ages and insurance types. After controlling for unobserved hospital quality and endogenous HIT adoption, our results suggest that a hospital’s severity-adjusted mortality decreases by 0.3 percentage points. When restricted to the Medicare patients, we find HIT adoption lowers a hospital’s severity-adjusted mortality rate by 0.5 percentage points. We find HIT to have no significant effect on the rate of ADEs.

The Affordable Care Act and Trends in Insurance Coverage and Disease Awareness Among Non-elderly Individuals with Kidney Disease

Kidney disease afflicts approximately 10% of the United States (US) population and is its’ ninth leading cause death.1 Though US individuals with kidney disease can receive Medicare if they qualify by age or require maintenance dialysis, younger individuals with earlier-stage disease are not afforded this coverage. Uninsured US individuals with kidney disease are more likely to be low-income and non-white,2 less likely to receive preventative care,2 and more likely to die or become dialysis dependent.3 Since 2010, minorities and low-income US individuals experienced substantial gains in insurance coverage under Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) policies, particularly Medicaid expansion.4 The goal of this study was to examine whether similar trends were evident in insurance coverage and disease awareness among non-elderly US individuals with kidney disease.

The Affordable Care Act Attenuates Financial Strain According to Poverty Level

We use data from the 2011-2016 National Health Interview Survey to examine how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has influenced disparities in health care–related financial strain, access to care, and utilization of services by categories of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). We use multivariable regression analyses to determine the ACA’s effects on these outcome measures, as well as to determine how changes in these measures varied across different FPL levels. We find that the national implementation of the ACA’s insurance expansion provisions in 2014 was associated with improvements in health care–related financial strain, access, and utilization. Relative to adults earning more than 400% of the FPL, the largest effects were observed among those earning between 0% to 124% and 125% to 199% of the FPL after the implementation of the ACA. Both groups experienced reductions in disparities in financial strain and uninsurance relative to the highest FPL group. Overall, the ACA has attenuated health care–related financial strain and improved access to and the utilization of health services for low- and middle-income adults who have traditionally not met income eligibility requirements for public insurance programs. Policy changes that would replace the ACA with less generous age-based tax subsidies and reductions in Medicaid funding could reverse these gains.

Disparities in Pediatric Provider Availability by Insurance Type after the ACA in California

OBJECTIVE To examine insurance-based disparities in provider-related barriers to care among children in California in the wake of changes to the insurance market resulting from the Affordable Care Act. METHODS Our sample included 6514 children (ages 0 to 11 years) from the 2014-2016 California Health Interview Survey. We examined parent reports in the past year of 1) having trouble finding a general provider for the child, 2) the child not being accepted by a provider as a new patient, 3) the childs health insurance not being accepted by a provider, or 4) any of the above. Multivariable models estimated the associations of insurance type-Medi-Cal (Medicaid), employer-sponsored insurance, or privately purchased coverage-and parent reports of these problems. RESULTS Approximately 8% of parents had encountered at least one of these problems. Compared with parents of children with employer-sponsored insurance, parents of children with Medi-Cal or privately purchased coverage had over twice the odds of experiencing at least one of the barriers. Parents of children with Medi-Cal had over twice the odds of being told a provider would not accept their childrens coverage or having trouble finding a general provider and 3times the odds of being told a provider would not accept their children as new patients. Parents of children with privately purchased coverage had over 3times the odds of being told a provider would not accept their childrens coverage. CONCLUSIONS Our study found significant disparities in provider-related barriers by insurance type among children in California.

Experiences in Care According to Parental Citizenship and Language Use Among Latino Children in California

OBJECTIVE To assess differences in health care access, utilization, and experiences among Latino children in California according to parental citizenship status and language use. METHODS Data are from the 2011 and 2012 California Health Interview Survey public use child files. A total of 2841 interviews of parents of Latino children younger than the age of 12 years were conducted. Analyses were conducted to determine the associations between access (usual of source of care, delay in receiving needed care, health insurance), utilization (physician visits in past year, emergency department visits), and experiences (doctor listens, doctor explains instructions clearly, communication via telephone or e-mail) according to parental citizenship status and household language use after adjusting for confounders. RESULTS In multivariate analyses, there were no significant differences in access to care according to parental citizenship status. Children with 2 noncitizen parents had fewer doctor visits and were less likely to go to the emergency department in the past year than those with 2 citizen parents. Among children with 1 or 2 noncitizen parents, their parents reported worse experiences in care than those with 2 citizen parents. Similar results were observed for language use. Parents of children in bilingual and Spanish-only households were less likely to report that their childrens doctors explained things clearly, and parents in Spanish-only households were less likely to communicate via telephone or e-mail than those in English-only households. CONCLUSIONS Health policy should focus on provider-parent communication to ensure health care equity for Latino children whose parents are not citizens or do not speak English.

Examining EMTALA in the era of the patient protection and Affordable Care Act

Background Little is known regarding the characteristics of hospitals that violate the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). This study addresses this gap by examining EMTALA settlements from violating hospitals and places these descriptive results within the current debate surrounding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Methods We conducted a content analysis of all EMTALA Violations that resulted in civil monetary penalty settlements from 2002–2015 and created a dataset describing the nature of each settlement. These data were then matched with Thomson Healthcare hospital data. We then present descriptive statistics of each settlement over time, plot settlements by type of violation, and provide the geographic distribution of settlements. Results Settlements resulting from EMTALA violations decreased from a high of 46 in 2002 to a low of 6 in 2015, a decline of 87%. Settlements resulting from violations most commonly occurred for failure to screen and failure to stabilize patients in need of emergency care. Settlements were most common in hospitals in the South (48%) and in urban areas (74%). Among Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) with a violation, the majority (62%) were located in the South or in urban areas (65%). Violating hospitals incurred annual settlements of

The Affordable Care Act Reduces Hypertension Treatment Disparities for Mexican-heritage Latinos

31,734 on average, for a total