May 2008

On May 14, 2008, current HCFO grantee Michael E. Chernew, Ph.D., professor at Harvard Medical School, and former HCFO grantee, Linda Blumberg, Ph.D. principal research associate at the Urban Institute, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Health in a hearing titled, "Hearing on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Consumer Driven Health Care: Cost Containment or Cost Shift?" Chernew's HCFO-funded research, funded under a special topic solicitation on health care costs, will examine the factors related to geographic variation in cost growth in the Medicare and commercial sectors, and Blumberg's HCFO grants examined the effects of certain insurance market reforms designed to expand coverage.

Findings from a HCFO-sponsored study were featured in the April 16, 2008, Salem-News.com article, “Oregon Health Plan Cuts Mean More ER Visits by Uninsured.” This HCFO-sponsored study led by a collaborative team examined the impact of benefit reductions and cost-sharing increases on the economic viability of the Oregon Health Plan as well their impact on access and coverage. This article was based on a part of the study led by Robert A. Lowe, M.D., director of the Oregon Health & Science University Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine. Lowe said, “As policymakers contemplate fundamental changes to Medicaid programs nationwide, these events in Oregon should provide a warning about a potential large increase in emergency department use by the uninsured in the United States.”   

Findings from a HCFO study funded under the second special topic solicitation in public health systems research and led by Robert E. Hurley, Ph.D., senior consulting researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change, were highlighted in an April 16, 2008, Modern Healthcare article, “Study Highlights Public Health Staffing Woes.” This study examines communities' strategies for managing local public health workforce shortages and needs. The full research brief may be accessed at www.hschange.org/CONTENT/979/. 

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