The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
Monday, October 18, 2021
Dear John,
Advertise with Health Affairs this month to take advantage of our October promotion. Spend $10K on advertising and get one week of homepage ads free! Learn more about advertising opportunities.
ACA Coverage Improves Outcomes
Several articles in the October issue discuss the impacts of health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
Claire Margerison and coauthors analyze survey data and find that Medicaid expansion during 2012–18 was associated with a 22 percent increase in prepregnancy Medicaid coverage and a 16 percent decrease in self-reported prepregnancy depression. Associations between Medicaid expansion and prepregnancy mental health measures increased with time since expansion.
Melinda Su-En Lee and coauthors focused on the Healthy Michigan Plan, which expanded Medicaid eligibility to adults with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal
poverty level. They found that, under the plan, health status improved for Black, White, and Hispanic enrollees, but not Arab American or Chaldean American enrollees, who were healthier at baseline.
Sarah Gordon and colleagues analyzed 2016–18 survey data and found that, compared with respondents continuously enrolled in Marketplace coverage from preconception through postpartum, those who enrolled during pregnancy had "a 10.8 percent lower rate of adequate prenatal care, a 6.4 percent lower rate of timely prenatal care initiation, and a 13.2 percent lower rate of having twelve or more prenatal care visits."
Today on Health Affairs Blog, Nisarg Patel and Joy Jin discuss how oral antivirals could serve as an outpatient treatment for symptomatic COVID-19 infection and
post-exposure prophylaxis.
You are invited to join us onThursday, October 21,for the next meeting of theHealth Affairs Journal Club. Organized to help researchers keep
abreast of the latest developments in the field and to promote evidence-based practices, Journal Club features authors of an impactfulHealth Affairsstudy for an up-close look at their research, methods, and
findings.
The focus of the October meeting is "Medicaid Expansion Associated With Some Improvements In Perinatal Mental Health," a study based on survey data linking Medicaid expansion with positive mental health outcomes during pregnancy.
The session is intended to be highly interactive, and participants will interact directly with the lead author, Claire Margerison, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Michigan State University.
Date: Thursday, October 21, 2021 Time: 3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. (EDT) Place: Online details will be shared upon
registration
Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewedjournalat the intersection of health,
health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.
Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
