Marguerite Burns is Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Science and she is working on a project entitled:
Public health insurance expansions and disability program participation
We asked her a few questions about her work at our RDC
What is the broad, overarching research agenda that brought you to the WiscRDC?
We are broadly interested in understanding how public health insurance expansions affect adult outcomes across three domains: employment, welfare program participation, and health.
What are the specific questions that you are using to pursue this agenda? What do you hope to accomplish?
Our primary research question for this study is the following: For working age, childless adults, what is the effect of state Medicaid expansions on the probability of participation in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, the probability of entry into the SSI program, and the probability of exit from the SSI program? Our secondary aim is to characterize the individuals for whom an offer of Medicaid influences SSI participation status including changes in their health, employment, and income that precipitate or follow a change in SSI status.
What are the data you are using to pursue these questions?
We have merged data that we collected on state Medicaid programs for adults without dependent children, the Medicaid Waiver Datatset (MWD), with the AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The MWD characterizes childless adult Medicaid coverage for each state and the District of Columbia from 1996 to 2014 including income eligibility limits, enrollment caps, and coverage characteristics. We use the MEPS longitudinal panel files, Panels 1 through 17.
Are you collaborating with any other researchers, in Madison, or otherwise.
Yes. The Co-PI for the project is Laura Dague, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University
Do you mind sharing the citations for any of your existing scholarly papers or CES Working papers that use restricted data?
Burns ME. Medicaid managed care and cost containment for adult beneficiaries with disabilities. Medical Care. 2009;47(1):1069-1076. PMC2846727.
Burns ME. Medicaid managed care and health care access for adult beneficiaries with disabilities. Health Services Research. 2009;45(5):1521-1541. PMC2754546.
Burns ME, O’Hara BJ, Huskamp HA, Soumerai SB. Uninsurance and its correlates among poor adults with disabilities. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. 2012;23:630-1646. PMC3671490.