- Chapter One. The determinants of Medicare Advantage enrollment increases among dual eligibles.
- Chapter Two (Job Market Paper). Dual advantage or double the burden? The effect on dual eligibles of providing Medicare benefits through private plans. Over the past several years, there has been substantial increase in the share of Medicare beneficiaries who receive their benefits through private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. This study evaluates the effect of this trend on utilization and the quality of care among dual eligibles, i.e., individuals with limited resources who are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. To do so, I exploit a discontinuous increase in government payments to plans — and subsequently in MA enrollment rates — in regions that exceeded a particular population threshold. I find that increases in MA enrollment reduced inpatient utilization among dual eligibles, while I fail to find evidence that this came at the expense of average care quality. However, I also find that MA enrollment was associated with a shift towards lower-quality hospitals and an increase in mortality rates in counties with historically-low traditional Medicare spending. These results advise caution as policymakers debate whether to further encourage enrollment in private plans among dual eligibles.
- Chapter Three. The effect of mandatory Medicaid managed care on utilization and quality of care among dual eligibles.
“Effect of the Affordable Care Act on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Insurance Coverage” (with Thomas Buchmueller, Helen Levy, and Barbara Wolfe), 2016. American Journal of Public Health 106(8): 1416-1421.
“Medicare Advantage and High-Needs Beneficiaries: Who is Enrolling and How Do They Fare?” (with Julia Adler-Milstein). Manuscript in Progress.
“Impact of Insurance Coverage for In-Vitro Fertilization on Access to Care” (with James Dupree, Angela Kelley, Marsha Manning, Vanessa Dalton, Helen Levy, and Richard Hirth). Manuscript in Progress.
“The Effect of the Hill-Burton Act on Hospital Access, Fertility Rates, and Mortality Rates” (with Martha Bailey and Sarah Miller). Revising Analyses and Manuscript.