News, March 7, 2011
Headlines:
Upcoming SHARE Webinar: Genevieve
Kenney and Edward Miller to Discuss
Benefit Design in Coverage Expansions
SHADAC State Access Profiles
Updated
MEPS Data User Workshop Announced
SHADAC Publishes Brief on Federal
Surveys
Sharon Long Publishes MA Health
Reform Article in Federal Reserve
Journal
SHADAC Researchers Present at MN
HSR Conference
Shana Lavarreda Discusses CHIS Data
Colorado Health Institute Releases
Report on Legislative Trends and New
Estimates of Eligible but Not Enrolled
Children
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News and Announcements
SHARE Webinar: Genevieve Kenney and Edward Miller to
Discuss Benefit Design in Coverage Expansions
SHARE is hosting a webinar on Wednesday, March 23rd, from 12:00 p.m. to
1:00 p.m. EDT featuring Genevieve Kenney and Edward Miller. Drs. Kenney
and Miller will discuss findings from their SHARE-sponsored studies
evaluating the influence of benefit design on coverage take-up and
preventive care utilization in access expansion initiatives. Dr. Kenney will
look at expansions in Kentucky and Idaho, and Dr. Miller will discuss Rhode
Island's HEALTHpact initiative. Click here to register for the event.
SHADAC State Access Profiles Updated
SHADAC updated the State Profiles section of our web site. This resource
offers a comprehensive profile of access to health care in the United States,
including 16 measures relating to coverage, system resources, and safety-
net resources. Users can view the measures for any state and compare to
other states and the U.S. total.
MEPS Data User Workshop Announced
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will conduct a two-
day hands-on MEPS Data Users’ Workshop in Rockville, MD on May 11-12,
2011. This workshop provides a general overview of the Medical
Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and will apply this knowledge to formulate
a research plan that utilizes the various MEPS-HC files and linkage
capabilities.
On a related note, SHADAC has estimates related to employer-sponsored
insurance in firms with 50 to 99 employees based on the MEPS Insurance
Component. The estimates can be downloaded at this link.
SHADAC is Hiring
We are pleased to announce several new employment opportunities for
analysts at SHADAC and the Minnesota Population Center. Please visit our
employment opportunities web page for information on these openings, and
we invite you to share this information within your network.
Publications

SHADAC Publishes Brief on Federal Surveys

SHADAC published a new brief, "Monitoring the Impacts of Health Reform at
the State Level: Using Federal Survey Data." This brief identifies state-level
information currently available from seven federal surveys to help states
monitor the impact of health reform and to compare the impacts of reform
across states. The brief provides an overview of the health insurance
coverage and the health care access, use and cost questions included in
each of the surveys. It also includes information on survey design and state
sample sizes for the American Community Survey (ACS), Current Population
Survey (CPS), National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Medical Expenditure
Panel Survey-Household Component (MEPS-HC), Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance System (BRFSS), National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH),
and Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).

Sharon Long Publishes MA Health Reform Article in Federal

Reserve Journal
Sharon Long and colleagues published "Health Reform in Massachusetts: An
Update" in the Spring 2011 issue of Communities and Banking, a journal
focusing on low- and moderate-income issues in New England and published
by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The article discusses trends derived
from the Massachusetts Health Reform Survey, finding that although
increased medical costs continue to be a concern in Massachusetts, health
reform has enabled many more people to get the care they need.

SHADAC Researchers Present at MN HSR Conference

Several SHADAC researchers presented at the 15th annual Minnesota Health
Services Research Conference, held March 1 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

 Sharon Long presented "Tracking the Impacts of Health Reform:

Lessons from Massachusetts," describing how Massachusetts has
collected and used data to inform health policy.

 Julie Sonier presented "Measuring State-Level Health Reform

Impact: Metrics and Data Sources," which looked at the issue from
a 50-state perspective and described the federal data sources
available to states.

 Joanna Turner presented "New Estimates of Health Insurance

Coverage American Community Survey: Increases in Uninsurance
for Minnesota Children," describing the distribution of and trends in
health insurance coverage for Minnesota and sub-state regions.

 SHADAC research assistant Jessie Kemmick-Pintor presented "Left

 out under Federal Health Reform: Undocumented immigrant adults
excluded from ACA Medicaid Expansions," describing estimates of
the number of people who will not be covered under the Affordable
Care Act at the state level, and the implications for safety net
providers in the states.

 Congratulations to SHADAC research assistant Kerry Landry, who

won the student paper competition for this conference with her
paper, "The Impact of the Patient Protection and Affordability Care
Act (ACA) on Low-Income Individuals Currently Enrolled in the
Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association (MCHA)." She
describes how enrollees of MN's high risk pool will be affected by
coverage options in ACA and addressed a technique for estimating
how many will qualify for Medicaid.

News from the States

Shana Lavarreda Discusses 2009 CHIS Data Release
Shana Alex Lavarreda, author of a UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
brief, "Two-thirds of California's 7 Million Uninsured May Obtain Coverage
Under Health Care Reform," was highlighted in the Center's Ask the Expert
web page. Shana discusses findings drawn from the newly-released 2009
California Health Interview Survey and responds to questions about access
and those not qualified for coverage under reform.

Colorado Health Institute Releases Report on Legislative

Trends and New Estimates of Eligible but Not Enrolled
Children
A new publication from the Colorado Health Institute (CHI) shows the
context of Colorado health care legislation—its past, present and future, and
how they interconnect. "Legislative Opportunities and Trends" provides a
graphical timeline illustrating the trend of health policy decisions in Colorado
and how those decisions helped set the stage for current health reform
efforts. It also takes a brief look at where legislation is heading this session.

CHI also released "Colorado Children’s Health Insurance Status: 2011

update," providing updated annual estimates of Colorado children elgible but
not enrolled (EBNE) in Medicaid and the Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+)
program. These estinates are provided by county to help state and local
policymakers understand enrollment patterns in their communities.
 Visit SHADAC's blog for regular updates
and commentary
Read our latest blog posts and encourage your colleagues to stay up-to-date
on SHADAC's resources by signing up for our e-mail list. These updates
include our bi-weekly newsletter; webinars on data, evaluation, and
reporting related to Affordable Care Act implementation; and other
resources pertinent to state health policy.

SHADAC is funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help states monitor rates of health insurance coverage and to understand
factors associated with uninsurance. Visit us online at www.shadac.org

SHARE is a National Program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to fund, synthesize and disseminate evaluations of state
health reform. SHARE operates out of SHADAC. For more information, visit SHARE's web site, www.statereformevaluation.org.

Copyright (C) 2011 State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) All rights reserved