Assessing the impact on health-system capacity and cost of coverage expansion under health reform

The Foundation's program, State Health Access Reform Evaluation (SHARE), was designed to support research and evaluation of state health reform initiatives and develop an evidence base for future state and federal reform initiatives.The purpose of this project is to explore the health care utilization patterns among a Medicaid expansion population in Wisconsin: low-income, uninsured childless adults newly eligible for Medicaid under Wisconsin's BadgerCare Plus Core Plan. The project will examine several questions including if and how service utilization changes before and after Medicaid enrollment; how utilization patterns may differ for those coming from prior safety net coverage; and whether any apparent difference in utilization between those enrollees who had been chronically uninsured and those who had been episodically uninsured shows up in pent-up demand. Deliverables will include a policy report; presentations at the AcademyHealth annual research meeting and the annual meeting of the Association of Public Policy and Management (APPAM); a SHARE webinar briefing of preliminary findings; briefings through the Population Health Institute's Evidence-Based Health Policy Project; and a manuscript to be submitted for publication. The results of this study will not only inform Medicaid expansions planned as part of the Affordable Care Act but also other federally or state-initiated expansions in the future.

Grant Details

Amount Awarded $199,708.00

Awarded on: 7/6/2012

Time frame: 7/1/2012 - 12/31/2013

Grant Number: 70169