Reimagining Care to Support Families and Workers
At some point in our lives, each of us will need care, or be asked to provide or arrange care for a loved one. Historically, we have relied on unpaid or poorly paid labor, largely delivered by women and minorities, to fill these needs; however, current arrangements are neither fair nor feasible.
What Does It Mean To Make Health Care “Affordable”?
Health care “affordability” is a top concern for most Americans, but it means different things to different people. Affordability can be examined as an economic concept, a policy threshold, or through the decisions made by individuals and families.
Supply of Primary Care Providers and Appointment Availability for Philadelphia's Medicaid Population
Supply of Primary Care Providers and Appointment Availability for Philadelphia's Medicaid Population
This brief analyzes the supply of primary care providers serving the Medicaid population in Philadelphia, and the geographic variability of this measure across the city. It also examines important measures of access – appointment availability and wait time for an initial appointment – that highlight challenges faced by Medicaid patients.
LDI's Polsky, Werner and Domchek Named to National Academy of Medicine
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in US Pediatric Growth Hormone Treatment
Adda Grimberg, Anders Lindberg, Michael Wajnrajch, Andrew J. Cucchiara, Cecilia Camacho-Hübner
Abstract [from journal]
Background/Aims: To compare racial/ethnic proportions of subjects receiving growth hormone (GH) treatment to the expected proportions, and secondarily, to assess racial/ethnic differences in subject characteristics at GH treatment initiation.
Methods: Race/ethnicity-based expected frequencies of height <–2.25 SD were determined by applying relative risks for short stature, calculated from a regional population of 189,280 pediatric primary care patients, to US census data, and compared to racial/...
Racial Disparities in Nephrology Consultation and Disease Progression among Veterans with CKD: An Observational Cohort Study
Jonathan Suarez, Jordana B. Cohen, Vishnu Potluri, Wei Yang, David E. Kaplan, Marina Serper, Siddharth P. Shah, ...
Abstract [from journal]
Background: Incident rates of ESRD are much higher among black and Hispanic patients than white patients. Access to nephrology care before progression to ESRD is associated with better clinical outcomes among patients with CKD. However, it is unknown whether black or Hispanic patients with CKD experience lower pre-ESRD nephrology consultation rates compared with their white counterparts,
...Addressing Kidney Transplant Waiting List Disparities Through Medicaid Expansion
The evidence on the positive effects of Medicaid expansion on coverage, access, utilization, and financial security is substantial and growing.
The ‘Warming Effect’ of DACA on American Children
New research shows that young citizen children were more likely to receive important social services when their undocumented mothers became eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Providing evidence of the multi-generational spillover effects of immigration policy, this new analysis comes as the U.S.
What State Legislators Say About Medicaid, and Why It Matters
Medicaid’s federal-state partnership structure has long permitted states to adopt modifications to coverage design, including benefits and cost-sharing. That structure, combined with an Administration signaling its support for greater state flexibility and funding constraints, could produce substantial shifts in state Medicaid policy.
Being Uninsured in America
For the nearly 30 million people in the United States who have no health insurance, gaining access to care and paying for that care can be a challenge. A new “secret shopper” study explores whether the uninsured can get a new primary care appointment, and at what price.
‘Sharing things with people that I don’t even know’: Help-seeking for Psychological Symptoms in Injured Black Men in Philadelphia
Sara Jacoby, John A. Rich, Jessica L. Webster, Therese S. Richmond
Abstract [from journal]
Objectives: Psychological distress is common in survivors of traumatic injury, yet across United States’ trauma systems, it is rare that standard injury care integrates psychological evaluation and professional...
County Jail or Psychiatric Hospital? Ethical Challenges in Correctional Mental Health Care
Andrea G. Segal, Rosemary Frasso, Dominic A. Sisti
Abstract [from journal]
Approximately 20% of the roughly 2.5 million individuals incarcerated in the United States have a serious mental illness (SMI). As a result of their illnesses, these individuals are often more likely to commit a crime, end up incarcerated, and languish in correctional settings without appropriate treatment. The objective of the present study was to investigate how correctional facility personnel reconcile the ethical challenges that arise when housing and treating individuals with SMI. Four focus groups and one group interview were conducted with employees...
The 340B Program Hits a Crisis Point
As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implement nearly $1.6 billion in cuts to the 340B Drug Pricing Program, a new study looks at the consequences of the program, and questions whether it has had its intended effect of helping safety-net hospitals serve poor and vulnerable populations.
Medicaid Work Requirements Would Put Very Few People to Work
[cross-posted from the Health Cents blog on philly.com]