Elizabeth Watts, MHS (she/her)

Bio:

I am a fifth year PhD Candidate studying health economics. My dissertation assesses the impact of Medicaid disenrollment on access to diabetes care for individuals disenrolled from Medicaid following the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. I explore the impact of Medicaid policy changes from the state, provider, and patient perspectives. I use quasi-experimental methods, including difference-in-difference with staggered treatment timing, event study, and regression discontinuity, to analyze large administrative datasets. Results from this work will shed light on implications of future Medicaid policy changes that may increase enrollment churn. 

As a Graduate Research Assistant with Dr. Sayeh, I conduct economic analyses on the growth of the 340B program and the impact of 340B revenue on FQHC behavior.  In my work with Dr. Janette Dill, I have assessed gender wage penalties for nurses from an international perspective. Additionally, I have prior experience conducting economics analyses of vaccines at the Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center.

My research objective is to quantify the impact of public policies on care affordability and access. 

Selected Publications:

Watts, E. McGlave, C., Quinones, N., Bruno, J.P., Nikpay, S. (2024). 340B Participation and Safety Net Engagement Among Federally Qualified Health Centers. JAMA Health Forum. 5(10). DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.3360

McGlave, C., Bruno, J.P., Watts, E., Nikpay, S. (2024). 340B Contract Pharmacy Growth by Pharmacy Ownership: 2009-2022. Health Affairs Scholar, 2(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxad075 

Watts, E., Mak, J., Patenaude, B. (2022). Benefit-cost analysis of continuing routine immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. Journal of Benefit Cost Analysis, 13(1):91-106. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/bca.2021.13  

Selected Presentations:

Elizabeth Watts (June 24, 2025) Impact of the Post-COVID-19 Medicaid Unwinding on State Prescription Drug Spending for Diabetes Medications: Implications for Access [Presentation]. American Society of Health Economists – Nashville, TN, United States.

Elizabeth Watts, Sayeh Nikpay. (June 17, 2024) Association between 340B Engagement and Service Provision among Ryan White Grantees [Presentation]. American Society of Health Economists – San Diego, CA, United States.

Contact: watts229@umn.edu (preferred name: Libby, pronouns: she/her)