Quarterly Topic

Health Insurance

Content Type:

  • Quarterly Article

    County-Level Immigration Policy and Health Insurance Among Latino Adults and Youth

    August 2025 Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young Danielle M. Crookes Sarina Rodriguez Fabiola Perez-Lua Ninez A. Ponce Alexander N. Ortega

    Federal and state immigration policies influence access to health insurance for Latino populations. Local jurisdictions also have immigration-related policymaking power, but there has been limited study of their influence on health care access. We examined the relationship between county-level immigration policy contexts and health insurance coverage of Latino adults and youth in California using two measures that capture local-level policy decisions and immigration policy–related social inequity. More

  • Quarterly Opinion

    Chief Justice Roberts’ 2012 Ruling Should Undermine Work Requirements

    August 2025 John E. McDonough

    No discernible difference exists between the ACA mandate penalty that was overturned by the US Supreme Court and the mandate penalty in the 2025 OBBBA. More

  • Quarterly Opinion

    Nullifying the Affordable Care Act: What the Medicaid Work Requirement Really Is All About

    August 2025 Sara Rosenbaum

    Despite a mountain of evidence showing its deleterious effects, a Medicaid work requirement is now law. The mandate, considered by its supporters to be a centerpiece of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), is the product of a desperate search to find ways to help offset over $3 trillion in tax losses, coupled with the enduring desire among Affordable Care Act (ACA) opponents to repeal the Medicaid expansion for working-age adults. To accomplish their goal, Medicaid advocates coupled a claim that removing millions of people from Medicaid somehow makes the program more efficient with grossly misleading “research” characterizing Medicaid beneficiaries as healthy adults living off their benefits, with free time on their hands.   More

  • Quarterly Opinion

    We Are All Immigrants Now: Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Decimates Health Care Access for All But a Privileged Few

    August 2025 Tiffany Joseph

    The GOP Plan to End Obamacare involves fiscally starving it to death rather than an explicit repeal. Trump’s recent signing of the “Big Beautiful Bill” brings us closer to that harsh reality.   More

  • Quarterly Article

    From Disappointment to Predominance: Medicare Advantage’s Ascendancy and Transformation of Medicare

    August 2025 Rick Mayes Micah Johnson

    From 2004 to 2024, Medicare Advantage (MA) went from being a “policy disappointment,” covering 12% of all Medicare beneficiaries, to predominance, covering more than one-half (52%), with more growth predicted in the future. Drawing on an extensive review and synthesis of the literature, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) reports, congressional committee hearings, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data, this paper analyzes the evolution of Medicare and managed care in three parts More

  • Quarterly Article

    No Data, No Problem: Quantifying Latine Individuals Eligible for but Not Enrolled in Medicaid or Affordable Care Act Marketplace-Based Insurance in North Carolina

    July 2025 Gabriela Plasencia Kamaria Kaalund Olurotimi Kukoyi Viviana Martinez-Bianchi Andrea Thoumi

    Populations that identify as Latino/a/e/x or Hispanic (herein referred to as Latine) in the United States continue to face disproportion-ate health… More

  • Quarterly Opinion

    Medicaid Cuts Are Undemocratic and Not What the American People Want

    June 2025 Jamila Michener Sarah E. Gollust

    Americans from across the political spectrum oppose cuts to Medicaid, believe that the program is effective, and are willing to take steps to defend Medicaid. More

  • Quarterly Opinion

    Rethinking Affordability: When Insurance Fails the Affordability Test

    June 2025 Thom Walsh

    Millions of Americans possess insurance cards yet hesitate to use them. Escalating premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses now impact not only low-income families but nearly everyone except the wealthiest. Annual out-of-pocket costs for a family of four now exceed $20,000—enough to buy a new car each year. These substantial expenses compel families to skip preventive services and essential medical care. The notion that “some coverage is better than none” falters when cost-sharing deters care and heightens financial risk. More

  • Quarterly Article

    Who Enrolls in Coverage and Who Remains Uninsured? Medicaid Take-Up Before and After the Affordable Care Act and During Unwinding

    June 2025 Rebecca Brooks Smith Gabriella Aboulafia Benjamin D. Sommers

    From the pre- to post-ACA period, Medicaid take-up rates among eligible individuals increased, and these gains persisted during the beginning of the unwinding period, potentially reflecting increased outreach efforts under the Biden administration. However, areas of vulnerability remain among young adults, working adults, AI/AN individuals, and those in rural areas. More

  • Quarterly Opinion

    Who’s Affected by Medicaid Work Requirements? It’s Not Who You Think

    April 2025 Sara Rosenbaum Marc A. Cohen Jane L. Tavares Alison Barkoff

    Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion passed in 2010, Medicaid work requirement proponents have sought to convince policymakers that… More