Access to Pediatric Bed Capacity According to Social Determinants of Health: All Beds Are Not Created Equal.

Objective: To study pediatric inpatient hospital capacity and resources, characterizing differences according to social determinants of health (SDoH) using market share techniques.

Study Design: This cross-sectional study uses non-elective inpatient discharges (≥1 month to ≤19 years) from Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and American Hospital Association surveys to derive hospital capacity and resources/capability. We include US hospitals with ≥1 pediatric bed and ≥1 pediatric discharge and calculate per bed capital, expenditure, and staffing, transfer rates, payer-mix, and adjusted central line-associated blood stream infection (CLABSI) rate.

The association between smoking, chronic pain, and prescription opioid use: 2013-2021.

It is known that smoking is associated with greater chronic pain. However, little is known about the magnitude of this relationship and its association with prescription opioid use. We examine the association between smoking status and three sets of outcomes: (1) starting and discontinuing opioids, (2) intensity of opioid use, and (3) opioid use and pain outcomes after quitting smoking.

Racial and ethnic disparities in mental health among breast cancer patients and survivors in the United States.

Objective: To decompose the mental health disparities between breast cancer patients and survivors (hereafter survivors) of racial and ethnic minority groups and non-Hispanic White survivors into the contributions of individual-, interpersonal-, community-, and societal-level determinants.

Data Sources And Study Setting: We used data from the 2010-2020 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component (MEPS-HC). Our primary outcome was whether the person had mental health conditions or not.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Attendance to Well-Child Visit Recommendations during COVID-19.

Objective: To measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on racial and ethnic disparities in attendance to well-child visit recommendations.

Methods: We used the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to compare pre-pandemic (2018-2019) and pandemic (2020 and 2021) ratios of well-child visits to age-based recommendations, presenting both unadjusted and adjusted attendance disparities over time. We also used the 1996-2021 MEPS to place the pandemic changes in an historical context.

Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care services and behavioral health outcomes.

We study the effects of changing Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care services on behavioral health outcomes-defined here as mental illness and substance use disorders. Medicaid enrollees are at elevated risk for these, and other, chronic conditions and are likely to have unmet treatment needs. We apply two-way fixed-effects regressions to survey data specifically designed to measure behavioral health outcomes over the period 2010-2016.

Past Disruptions in Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care Among Insured Adults.

Introduction: Although the association between health insurance coverage and access to care is well documented, it is unclear whether the deleterious effects of being uninsured are strictly contemporaneous or whether previous disruptions in coverage have persistent effects. This study addresses this issue using nationally representative data covering 2011-2019 to estimate the extent to which disruptions in health insurance coverage continued to be associated with poor access even after coverage was regained.

Methods: Analysis was conducted in 2022.

Association Between Medicaid Dental Payment Policies and Children's Dental Visits, Oral Health, and School Absences.

Importance: Although all state Medicaid programs cover children's dental services, less than half of publicly insured children receive recommended care.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the ratio of Medicaid payment rates to dentist charges for an index of services (fee ratio) and children's preventive dental visits, oral health, and school absences.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this cross-sectional study, a difference-in-differences analysis was conducted between September 2021 and April 2022 of 15 738 Medicaid-enrolled children and a control group of 16 867 privately insured children aged 6 to 17 years who participated in the 2016-2019 National Survey of Children's Health.

The Impact of Sharing Drug Rebates at the Point of Sale on Out-of-Pocket Payments for Enrollees in Employer-Sponsored Insurance.

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the impact of sharing drug rebates at the point of sale on out-of-pocket spending by linking estimated rebates to administrative claims data for employer-sponsored insurance enrollees in 2018.

Methods: We applied the drug rebate rate to the retail price of each brand name drug fill, allocated the reductions to out-of-pocket spending based on cost-sharing provisions, and aggregated each individual's out-of-pocket spending across drug fills. We assumed that generic drugs have no rebates for employer-sponsored insurance.

Does Trastuzumab Offer Good Value for Money for Breast Cancer Patients with Metastasis in Indonesia?

Objective: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Indonesia, with Indonesia's breast cancer mortality rate being the highest among Southeast Asian countries. This study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and budget impacts of adding trastuzumab to chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone for HER2-positive breast cancer patients in Indonesia.

Methods: We performed a Markov model-based economic evaluation to assess cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, and budget impact.

Associations Between State-Level Severe Maternal Morbidity and Other Perinatal Indicators.

This cross-sectional study examines state-level associations between severe maternal morbidity and other perinatal indicators, including prepregnancy hypertension, prepregnancy diabetes, prepregnancy obesity, low-risk cesarean delivery, preterm birth, and maternal and infant mortality.

Trends in Severe Maternal Morbidity in the US Across the Transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS From 2012-2019.

Importance: Surveillance of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is critical for monitoring maternal health and evaluating clinical quality improvement efforts.

Objective: To evaluate national and state trends in SMM rates from 2012 to 2019 and potential disruptions associated with the transition to International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification and Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-CM/PCS) in October 2015.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This repeated cross-sectional analysis examined delivery hospitalizations from 2012 through 2019 in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's National Inpatient Sample and State Inpatient Databases, an all-payer compendium of hospital discharge records from community, nonrehabilitation hospitals.

New evidence on geographic disparities in United States hospital capacity.

Objective: To characterize the quantity and quality of hospital capacity across the United States.

Data Sources: We combine a 2017 near-census of US hospital inpatient discharges from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) with American Hospital Association Survey, Hospital Compare, and American Community Survey data.

Study Design: This study produces local hospital capacity quantity and care quality measures by allocating capacity to zip codes using market shares and population totals.