OBJECTIVE To assess state coverage and utilization of Medicaid smoking cessation medication benefits among fee-for-service enrollees who smoked cigarettes. METHODS We used the linked National Health Interview Survey (survey years 1995, 1997-2005) and the Medicaid Analytic eXtract files (1999-2008) to assess utilization of smoking cessation medication benefits among 5,982 cigarette smokers age...

BACKGROUND For uninsured American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AIAN) diagnosed with cancer, prompt enrollment in Medicaid may speed access to treatment and improve survival. We hypothesized that AIANs who were eligible for the Indian Health Service Care System (IHSCS) at cancer diagnosis may be enrolled in Medicaid sooner than other AIANs. METHODS Using Washington, Oregon, and California Stat...

Medicaid was expanded to millions of individuals under the Affordable Care Act, but many states do not provide dental coverage for adults under their Medicaid programs. In the absence of dental coverage, patients may resort to costly emergency department (ED) visits for dental conditions. Medicaid coverage of dental benefits could help ease the burden on the ED, but ED use for dental conditions...

BACKGROUND Wisconsin Medicaid enrollees are eligible for treatment for tobacco dependence at minimal charge to the enrollee. This paper describes an evaluation of the use of this treatment within the Wisconsin fee-for-service Medicaid program. METHODS Pharmaceutical claims data for Medicaid fee-for-service patients were analyzed for the year 1999 to determine rates of treatment use. RESULTS...

Recent theoretical work suggests that means and asset-tested social insurance programs can explain the low savings of lower income households in the U.S. We assess the validity of this hypothesis by investigating the effect of Medicaid, the health insurance program for low income women and children, on savings behavior. We do so using data on asset holdings from the Survey of Income and Program...

The purpose of this study was to explore dental and dental hygiene students' and faculty members' personal experiences with Medicaid prior to coming to dental school as well as their professional/educational experiences with patients on Medicaid during their dental/dental hygiene education and how these experiences relate to their professional attitudes and behavior concerning treating patients...

Community health centers (CHCs) have long served an important safety-net healthcare delivery role for vulnerable populations. Federal efforts to expand CHCs, while potentially reducing the Federal budget for Medicaid, raise concern about how Medicaid and uninsured patients of CHCs will continue to fare. To examine the primary care experiences of uninsured and Medicaid CHC patients and compare t...

BACKGROUND Management of asthma involves adherence to medication regimens. Assessing adherence is difficult for health care providers and researchers. Self-reported medication use is subjective, so objective methods of data collection for medication use are frequently used in asthma research. The aim of this project is to examine the concordance between asthma medication pharmacy data culled fr...

OBJECTIVES To describe changes in the organizational structure of state health-related departments/agencies between 1990 and 2009; to identify factors associated with key organizational structures; and to investigate their relationship with different resource allocations across health policy areas, as represented by state budgets. DESIGN Original data collection on the organization of state h...