News, January 10, 2011
SHARE Special Issue of Health Services
Featured items
SHARE Special Issue of Health
Services Research Released
Online
Wireless Substitution Estimates
Released
SHARE Webinar Recording on
Medicaid/CHIP Eligibility Now
Available
States Release ACA
Implementation Reports
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News and Announcements
Research Released Online
The February 2011 SHARE-sponsored special issue of Health
Services Research is now available online. This special issue,
titled "Using State-Level Evidence to Inform National Policy:
Research from the State Health Access Reform Evaluation
(SHARE) Program," includes eight articles that present and
analyze findings from the first round of SHARE-funded
research. The articles focus on state-level coverage expansion
initiatives and address such topics as dependent coverage
expansions; small-group insurance reform; and outreach,
enrollment, and retention in public insurance programs. The
special issue highlights the relevance of these first-round
findings to federal reform under the Affordable Care Act (ACA),
which incorporates several coverage expansion strategies
pioneered at the state level and under which states are likely to
continue to play a significant role in providing health insurance
coverage.
Sharon Long's Research Presented at AEA
Conference
Research by SHADAC Senior Economist Sharon Long was
presented on January 8 at the American Economic Association
Annual Meeting, held in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Long's co-
author Karen Stockley presented, "Have Gender Gaps in
Insurance Coverage and Access to Care Narrowed Under Health
Reform? Findings from Massachusetts." This research
examines the impacts of health reform on gender disparities in
Massachusetts, including insurance coverage, access to and use
of health care, and the affordability of health care between fall
of 2006 and fall of 2009.
Wireless Substitution Estimates Released
The National Center for Health Statistics has released the latest
semi-annual update to the wireless substitution estimates,
reflecting the first half of 2010. The publication, "Wireless
Substitution: Early Release of Estimates From the National
Health Interview Survey, January - June 2010." shows that
more than one-fourth of households (26.6%) have only
wireless telephones. This is an increase of 2.1 percentage
points since the since half of 2009. The prevalence is even
higher for children, with 29.0 percent living in households with
only wireless phone service.

MEPS Resources Released

Several resources for the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
(MEPS) have recently been released. These include: tables for
access to care, quality of care and expenditures for
2008; several statistical briefs, notably, "Health Insurance
Status of Young Adults, Ages 22-26, 2008" and "Preventive
Care Use by Insurance Status among the U.S. Civilian
Noninstitutionalized Adult Population, Ages 18-64, 2008";
and several data updates. View all of the new resources at this
link.

Publications
SHARE Webinar Recording, Issue Brief on
Medicaid/CHIP Eligibility Now Available
The recording for SHARE's December 16 webinar is
now available for viewing. The webinar featured Dr. Shana
Alex Lavarreda, Director of Health Insurance Studies at UCLA's
Center for Health Policy Research, who discussed findings from
her SHARE-funded research on service utilization as a function
of 12-month continuous Medicaid/CHIP eligibility in California.
Dr. Michael Cousineau, of the Keck School of Medicine at the
University of Southern California, served as the discussant for
Dr. Lavarreda's presentation.

Also available is a new issue brief from Dr. Lavarreda and her
research team. Titled, "12-Month Continuous Eligibility in
Medicaid: Impact on Service Utilization," the brief elaborates on
the content of Dr. Lavarreda's webinar presentation.

Health Reform News

NAIC Adopts Model Exchange Act
On December 16, 2010, the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners (NAIC) adopted the American Health Benefit
Exchange Model Act. The model act incorporates the minimum
exchange elements required by the Affordable Care Act without
prescribing the provisions that will be decided by states. Visit
NAIC’s health reform page for the full text of the act.

States that need assistance in deciding on the issues that

remain unresolved by the model law should consult the brief,
“Health Insurance Exchanges - How Economic and Financial
Modeling Can Support State Implementation,” co-authored by
SHADAC and State Coverage Initiatives. The SHADAC Data
Center is also a useful resource for state-level health insurance
coverage estimates as states consider their particular coverage
environments.

News from the States

States Release Affordable Care Act
Implementation Reports
The California Health and Human Services Agency has
released the report, "Implementation of the Affordable Care Act
in California: A Window of Opportunity for State Policy Makers."
This report discusses eight policy areas that the state should
address to advance the states' goals regarding coverage
expansion, affordability, and health status improvements.

The Maine Advisory Council on Health Systems Development

(ACHSD) has released the report, "Options and Opportunities
for Implementing the Affordable Care Act in Maine." The ACHSD
was established in Maine law to guide the development of the
State Health Plan, analyze and report on factors driving health
care costs and make reports to the Legislature regarding
payment reform. The ACHSD’s recommendations are the
subject of this report.

The Virginia Health Reform Initiative (VHRI) Advisory Council

has released, "Report of the Virginia Health Reform Initiative
Advisory Council." The Advisory Council, chaired and led by
Secretary of Health and Human Resources Dr. William Hazel,
was asked to develop recommendations about implementing
health reform in Virginia, and to seek innovative solutions that
meet the needs of Virginia's citizens and its government in
2011 and beyond.

Visit SHADAC's blog for regular

updates and commentary
Read our latest blog posts and encourage your colleagues to
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 webinars on data, evaluation, and reporting related to
Affordable Care Act implementation; and other resources
pertinent to state health policy.

SHADAC is funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help states monitor rates of health insurance coverage
and to understand factors associated with uninsurance. Visit us online atwww.shadac.org

SHARE is a National Program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to fund, synthesize and disseminate
evaluations of state health reform. SHARE operates out of SHADAC. For more information, visit SHARE's web
site, www.statereformevaluation.org.

Copyright (C) 2011 State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) All rights reserved.