Sep 27, 2016

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky; State Health Access Data Assistance Center;

SHADAC has continued to analyze secondary federal and state data sources for the study's ongoing indicators.

Aug 01, 2016

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky;

The Study of the Impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Health Coverage, Access, Quality, Cost, and Outcomes in Kentucky, funded by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, is a three-year mixed methods study conducted by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), a health policy research institute at the University of Minnesota. As part of the Study, the research team produces Quarterly Snapshots to track ACA implementation indicators in a timely way.

May 09, 2016

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky; State Health Access Data Assistance Center;

Since implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014, 32 states have expanded or announced plans to expand the income eligibility of their Medicaid programs as authorized by the law. Twenty-six of these states, including the Commonwealth of Kentucky, have expanded or plan to expand their Medicaid programs through a traditional approach as envisioned by the ACA, and six states currently have expanded Medicaid programs through an alternative approach allowed under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act. Kentucky's newly elected Governor Matt Bevin has announced plans to seek an alternative approach to Kentucky's current Medicaid expansion through a waiver from certain federal Medicaid rules, referred to as a Section 1115 waiver. A transition from its traditional expansion to an 1115 waiver-based expansion would make Kentucky somewhat unique. To date, only New Hampshire has transitioned from a traditional to a waiver-based expansion; and unlike Kentucky, that state's traditional expansion was planned as a temporary step until the state implemented a waiver-based expansion. Similar to Kentucky, Arizona and Ohio have announced intentions to transition from traditional to waiver-based expansions, but they have not yet received federal approval.This brief was written to inform the policy discussion about the specifics of an 1115 waiver in Kentucky by examining the main components of Medicaid expansion waivers from other states. We selected five states with existing Medicaid expansion waivers that most-closely aligned with the policy discussion within Kentucky. Among the study states, their waivers incorporated similar components, although the details vary from state to state. We found mixed results on the potential of the specific waiver activities to impact either access to health coverage and services or costs for newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries.

Oct 30, 2015

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky; State Health Access Data Assistance Center;

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky has contracted with State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), a health policy research institute at the University of Minnesota, to study how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is impacting Kentuckians. SHADAC released its second quarterly health data snapshot which covers the April-June, 2015 timeframe. Highlights of this latest health data snapshot include:From December 2013 to June 2015, Kentucky's uninsurance rate dropped from 20.4% to 9.0% - a steeper decline than that of neighboring states and the nation as a whole.Medicaid funded thousands of preventive services during the quarter, including more than 10,000 breast cancer screenings. Over 9,000 of these breast cancer screenings were among Medicaid expansion enrollees, and nearly 1,200 were among traditional Medicaid enrollees.Children obtained the majority of Medicaid's dental visits, representing 66% of the more than 250,000 dental visits provided during the quarter (among Kentuckians ages 0-64).The proportion of marketplace (kynect) enrollees receiving premium assistance in the form of advance premium tax credits was lower than the national proportion (approx. 70% in Kentucky compared to around 84% for the nation).Kentucky's 11.4 percentage point drop in the rate of uninsured residents continued to outpace neighboring states (Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) which averaged a 5.2 percentage point drop. The national decline in uninsured in the same timeframe was 5.7 percentage points.

Sep 16, 2015

State Health Access Data Assistance Center;

This report was produced by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota as part of a mixed-methods study, Study of the Impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Implementation in Kentucky, funded by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky (Foundation). As part of this project, SHADAC will use semi-annual and annual reports to document the impact of the ACA in Kentucky using a set of indicators agreed upon by the Foundation and its ACA Impact Study Oversight Committee (see Appendix I for a complete list of indicators). These reports will track change in the indicators throughout the duration of this 34-month study (March 2015 through January 2018), and will include comparisons of Kentucky metrics with the U.S. and other states.The purpose of the first semi-annual report, "Baseline Data for the Implementation of the ACA in Kentucky," is to describe the baseline status of the healthcare situation in Kentucky prior to ACA implementation. The report presents baseline data for all study indicators, under the five study domains: coverage, access, cost, quality, and health outcomes. We use calendar year 2012 data as our baseline because it pre-dates the first ACA enrollment period that began in October 2013 and because the 2012 data are available for most of the indicators.

Aug 24, 2015

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky; State Health Access Data Assistance Center;

The Study of the Impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Health Coverage, Access, Quality, Cost, and Outcomes in Kentucky (Study), funded by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, is a three-year mixed methods study analyzing the key effects of the ACA in Kentucky. The Study is conducted by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), a health policy research institute at the University of Minnesota. As part of the Study, the research team produces Quarterly Snapshots to track ACA implementation indicators in a timely way. This is SHADAC's initial health data snapshot.

Aug 15, 2014

Brookings Institution; Fels Institute of Government at University of Pennsylvania; Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at State University of New York;

This report is part of a series of 21 state and regional studies examining the rollout of the ACA. The national network -- with 36 states and 61 researchers -- is led by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York, the Brookings Institution, and the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.Kentucky's health benefit exchange has thus far been among the nation's leaders in successful implementation, its sustainability will depend on political leadership, the ability of supporters to mount successful public relations and constituent campaigns, and ongoing fiscal support. All these elements will be hotly contested in the next year.