Financing community partnerships for health equity: Findings and insights from cross-sector professionals.

Objective: To enhance understanding of financial alignment challenges facing cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) pursuing health equity and offer insights to guide research and practice.

Data Sources And Study Setting: We collected data through surveys and interviews with cross-sector professionals in 16 states, 2020-2021.

Study Design: We surveyed 51 CSP leaders and received 26 responses.

Medicaid Coverage for Routine Foot Care.

Background: Despite national and international guidelines supporting podiatric services as a means of prevention for lower-extremity complications, especially in at-risk individuals, current coverage for these services under the US Medicaid program is not universal. The vast differences between state Medicaid programs regarding reimbursable foot care services is confusing and potentially serves as a barrier for the most vulnerable populations to receive preventative services. This article provides a brief discussion of "routine" podiatric services from a clinical perspective and provides a review of state Medicaid programs including optional services (eg, podiatric coverage).

Adequacy of Prenatal Care Utilization in a Pathways Community HUB Model Program: Results of a Propensity Score Matching Analysis.

Introduction: The THRIVE (Toward Health Resiliency and Infant Vitality & Equity) program aims to reduce racial disparities in birth outcomes by addressing individual risks and social determinants of health using the Pathways Community HUB model. This study examines (1) racial disparities among THRIVE participants and propensity score matched (PSM) comparisons in adequacy of prenatal care, and whether THRIVE participation (2) attenuates such disparities, and (3) improves odds of having adequate prenatal care.

Methods: Birth certificate and Care Coordination Systems client data were merged for analysis.

Medicaid Coverage for Podiatric Care: A National Survey.

Objectives: Medicaid provides health insurance for low-income people meeting specific eligibility requirements. It is funded and administered by both the federal and state governments; this decentralization leads to vastly different programs across the country. The objective of this legal surveillance project was to describe state-by-state differences in podiatric care coverage for nonelderly adults across Medicaid programs.

Medicaid Expansion and Emergency Medical Service Transports.

The primary objective of this investigation was to determine if there was a change in emergency medical service (EMS) utilization following implementation of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. The National Emergency Medical Service Information System (NEMSIS) data from 2010-2016 were evaluated in an interrupted time series analysis. Data were stratified by pediatric and adult EMS activations.

Healthcare for the Homeless (HCH) Projects and Medicaid Expansion.

Medicaid expansion was ruled optional in 2012 by the Supreme Court, which allowed some states to adopt it while others did not. This study examines the differences in the percent uninsured, healthcare utilization by service type, and clinical quality of care measures at HCH (Healthcare for the Homeless) projects between expansion and non-expansion states. An exploratory state-level retrospective analysis of annual Uniform Data System data limited to HCHs from 2012 to 2019 from 50 states plus Washington DC is presented.

The Effects of the COVID-19 Economic Downturn on Medicaid Coverage for Podiatry Services.

As of 2016, Medicaid accounted for nearly 20% of state general fund budgets. Optional Medicaid services such as podiatry are often subject to cost-cutting measures in periods of economic downturn, as was the case in the wake of the 2007 financial crisis. Although the cuts were intended as a cost-saving measure, research indicates that they had the opposite effect.

Public Program Enrollment Following US State Medicaid Expansion and Outreach.

Objectives: To examine the joint impact of states' Medicaid expansion and participation in Medicaid enrollment outreach at the take-up of other means-tested public programs (Women, Infants, and Children [WIC], Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP]).

Methods: Data were used from the American Community Survey, WIC, and SNAP. We used difference-in-differences analyses to compare the combined impact of Medicaid expansion and enrollment outreach on program enrollment.

Pregnant or recently pregnant opioid users: contraception decisions, perceptions and preferences.

Background: Multiple factors are linked to extremely high unintended pregnancy rates among women who use opioids, including various barriers to contraception adherence. These include patient level barriers such as lack of knowledge and education about highly effective contraception, and potential provider barriers. Using a mixed-methods framework to examine the contraception-related perceptions and preferences of opioid using women is a necessary next step to understanding this phenomenon.

The affordable care act and family planning services: the effect of optional medicaid expansion on safety net programs.

Background: Title X of the Public Health Service Act provides funding for a range of reproductive health services, with a priority given to low-income persons. Now that many of these services are provided to larger numbers of people with low-income since the passage of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion, questions remain on the continued need for the Title X program. The current project highlights the importance of these safety net programs.

Implementation of the affordable care act: a case study of a service line co-management company.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test and measure the outcome of a community hospital in implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through a co-management arrangement. RQ1: do the benefits of a co-management arrangement outweigh the costs? RQ2: does physician alignment aid in the effective implementation of the ACA directives set for hospitals? Design/methodology/approach A case study of a 350-bed non-profit community hospital co-management company. The quantitative data are eight quarters of quality metrics prior and eight quarters post establishment of the co-management company.

Introducing the health coach at a primary care practice: a pilot study (part 2).

It is well known that the cost of healthcare in the United States is a poor value proposition. One of the primary goals of the healthcare reform act is to reduce cost while improving healthcare quality. The authors believe that adding a health coach helps to achieve this goal.

Introducing the health coach at a primary care practice: impact on quality and cost (Part 1).

The cost of healthcare in U.S. is a poor value proposition.