ABSTRACT
Although natural disasters are commonplace, they leave in their wake an enormous amount of damage. The physical damage they cause is immediately apparent, but less obvious is the potential magnitude of disruptions to learning and resulting damage to human capital. Using the universe of Presidential Disaster Declarations in the United States, we show that natural disasters impact a region's human capital both via reductions in learning for students who remain in school as well as a reduction in the years of schooling completed. These effects appear to be scarring and persistent. Quantifying these losses using the implied reduction of lifetime earnings suggests that natural disasters reduce a region's human capital by a similar magnitude as the assessed property damage.
Subject(s)
Disasters , Natural Disasters , Humans , United States , Income , Schools , StudentsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: In 2008, Florida's Medicaid program began reimbursing medical providers for preventive oral health services (POHS) delivered to children aged 6 months to 42 months. We examine whether Medicaid comprehensive managed care (CMC) and fee for service (FFS) had different rates of POHS during pediatric medical visits. STUDY DESIGN: Observational study using claims data (2009-2012). METHODS: Using repeated cross-sections of 2009-2012 Florida Medicaid data for children 3.5 years or younger, we examined pediatric medical visits. We estimated a weighted logistic regression model to compare POHS rates among visits reimbursed by CMC and FFS Medicaid. The model controlled for FFS (vs CMC), years Florida had a policy allowing POHS in medical settings, an interaction between these 2 variables, and additional child- and county-level characteristics. Results are presented as regression-adjusted predictions. RESULTS: Among 1,765,365 weighted well-child medical visits in Florida, POHS were included in 8.33% of CMC-reimbursed visits and 9.67% of FFS-reimbursed visits. Compared with FFS, CMC-reimbursed visits had a nonsignificant 1.29-percentage-point lower adjusted probability of including POHS (P = .25). When examining differences over time, although the POHS rate was 2.72 percentage points lower for CMC-reimbursed visits after 3 years of policy enactment (P = .03), rates were similar overall and increased over time. CONCLUSIONS: POHS rates among pediatric medical visits in Florida were similar for visits paid via FFS and CMC, with low rates that increased modestly over time. Our findings are important because more children continue to be enrolled in Medicaid CMC.
Subject(s)
Fee-for-Service Plans , Medicaid , United States , Child , Humans , Florida , Preventive Health Services , Managed Care ProgramsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Buprenorphine is an effective medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), but the association between prior authorization policies and quality of care for individuals receiving buprenorphine treatment is not well-understood. METHODS: Using 2006-2013 Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX) data from 34 states and the District of Columbia, we identified 294,031 episodes of buprenorphine treatment for OUD among individuals aged 14-64 years. We estimated generalized difference-in-differences models to examine the association between buprenorphine prior authorization policies and changes in buprenorphine treatment quality along four dimensions: (1) duration of at least 180 days, (2) dosage of at least 8 milligrams, and concurrent prescribing of (3) opioid analgesics and (4) benzodiazepines. RESULTS: Buprenorphine prior authorization policies were associated with an 11-percentage point reduction (p < 0.01) in the likelihood of episodes with a duration of at least 180 days in the first four years after policy implementation. The policy was not associated with changes in effective dosage or concurrent prescribing of opioid analgesics or benzodiazepines. CONCLUSIONS: Buprenorphine prior authorization policies were associated with a sizeable and significant reduction in episodes of at least 180 days duration, underscoring the importance of identifying and removing barriers to effective and appropriate OUD care.
Subject(s)
Buprenorphine , Opioid-Related Disorders , United States , Humans , Buprenorphine/therapeutic use , Analgesics, Opioid/therapeutic use , Benzodiazepines/therapeutic use , Opioid-Related Disorders/drug therapy , Medicaid , Opiate Substitution TreatmentABSTRACT
All Medicaid programs pay for fluoride varnish applications during medical visits for infants and toddlers, but receipt of care varies considerably across states. Using 2006-2014 Medicaid data from 22 states, this study examined the association between Medicaid payment and receipt of fluoride varnish during pediatric medical visits. Among 3,393,638 medical visits, fewer than one in 10 visits included fluoride varnish. Higher Medicaid payment was positively associated with receipt of fluoride varnish during pediatric medical visits. As policymakers consider strategies for increasing young children's access to preventive oral health services, as well as consider strategies for balancing budgets, attention should be paid to the effects of provider payment on access to pediatric oral health services.
Subject(s)
Fluorides, Topical , Medicaid , Infant , United States , Child , Humans , Child, Preschool , Fluorides, Topical/therapeutic use , Fluorides , Preventive Health ServicesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: To increase receipt of preventive oral health services (POHS), all state Medicaid programs have enacted policies to encourage nondental providers to deliver POHS in medical offices. This study examined if these Medicaid policies improved oral health, as measured by reductions in dental visits with treatment and preventable emergency department (ED) visits for nontraumatic dental conditions (NTDC). METHODS: Using data on children aged 6 months to up to 6 years from 38 state Medicaid programs during 2006-2014, we used a generalized difference-in-differences estimation approach to examine the probability of a child having, in a year, any dental visits with caries-related treatment and any ED visits for NTDC, conditional on length of policy enactment. Models included additional child-level and county-level characteristics, state and year fixed effects, probability weights, and clustered standard errors. RESULTS: Among a weighted sample of 45,107,240 child/year observations, 11.7% had any dental visits with treatment and 0.2% had any ED visits for NTDC annually. Children in states with and without medical POHS policies had similar odds of having any dental visits with treatment, regardless of length of policy enactment. Children in states with medical POHS policies enacted for one or more years had significantly greater odds of having any ED visits for NTDC (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: State policies making POHS available in medical offices did not affect rates of dental visits with caries-related treatment, but were associated with increased rates of potentially avoidable ED visits for NTDC. Findings suggest that many young Medicaid-enrollees lack access to dentists.
Subject(s)
Dental Care for Children , Dental Caries/therapy , Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Medicaid , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Oral Health , Policy , Preventive Health Services , United StatesABSTRACT
Background. Obesity impacts utilization of healthcare resources. The goal of this study was to measure the relationship between increasing body mass index (BMI) in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) with different components of operating room (OR) time. Methods. The Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database Environment (STRIDE) was utilized to identify all ASA PS 2 or 3 patients who underwent primary THA at Stanford Medical Center from February 1, 2008 through January 1, 2013. Patients were divided into five groups based on the BMI weight classification. Regression analysis was used to quantify relationships between BMI and the different components of total OR time. Results. 1,332 patients were included in the study. There were no statistically significant differences in age, gender, height, and ASA PS classification between the BMI groups. Normal-weight patients had a total OR time of 138.9 min compared 167.9 min (P < 0.001) for morbidly obese patients. At a BMI > 35 kg/m(2) each incremental BMI unit increase was associated with greater incremental total OR time increases. Conclusion. Morbidly obese patients required significantly more total OR time than normal-weight patients undergoing a THA procedure. This increase in time is relevant when scheduling obese patients for surgery and has an important impact on health resource utilization.