Publication

"Transitions in Health Insurance During the Perinatal Period Among Patients with Continuous Insurance Coverage" (with Kimberley Geissler and Laura Attanasio), JAMA Network Open

Although health insurance continuity is important during the perinatal period to improve birth outcomes and reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, insurance disruptions are common. Using Massachusetts All-Payer Claims Database, this study examined insurance transitions for birthing individuals with continuous insurance, including those with Medicaid and Medicaid managed care coverage, before, during, and after pregnancy. Insurance transitions during the perinatal period occurred for more than 1 in 3 birthing individuals with continuous insurance and were more common among those with Medicaid or Medicaid managed care at delivery.  

"Hourly Wages and Turnover of Community Health Workers According to US States Certification Policy and Medicaid Reimbursement (2010-2021)" (with Tammie Jones, Alex Schulte, Charlotte Lewis, and PJ Maddox),  American Journal of Public Health

Community health workers' (CHW) ability to address social determinants of health and support access to primary and preventive health programs have made them an increasingly crucial part of public health, which has led to increased employment for CHW. By using data from 2010-2021 CPS data, we compared hourly wages of CHWs in states with and without CHW certificationi programs. Our study  found that after adding certification standards hourly wages increase among white workers, men, and part-time workers, and increases for men were four times more than increases for women. 

"The Impact of Connecticut's Paid Sick Leave Law on the Use of Preventive Services" (with Kyung Min Lee and Gilbert Gimm), American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Paid sick leave laws have received more attention in recent years as a way to improve public health. However, few studies have examined the relationship between state paid sick leave laws and the use of preventive services. In this study, we applied a quasi-experimental design to estimate the impact of Connecticut’s paid sick leave law on the use of preventive services. Using state and time variation from 2007-2018 BRFSS data, we compared the use of preventive services in Connecticut and other New England states before and after the implementation of 2012 Connecticut’s paid sick leave law. Overall, we found that Connecticut’s paid sick leave law increased the use of preventive services by 2.1 to 2.7 percentage points. Our results suggest that paid sick leave can be an effective policy to improve preventive service use among workers in the private sector.

"The Incidence of Healthcare Costs of Chronic Disease: Evidence from Older Workers,” (with Kyung Min Lee),  International Journal of Health Economics and Management

Who pays the costs of chronic conditions? In this paper, we examine whether 50–64-year old workers covered by employer-sponsored insurance bear healthcare costs in the form of lower wages. Using a difference-in-differences approach with data from the Health and Retirement Study, we find that workers with chronic diseases receive significantly lower wages than healthy workers when they are covered by employer-sponsored insurance. The large healthcare costs of chronic conditions may lead to a significant wage gap between workers with and without chronic conditions.