Health
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Narrow Networks For Mental Health Providers: Trading Cost For Access
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In 2016, 45 percent of health insurance plans purchased on Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces were considered narrow network plans. Narrow network plans are defined as those that cover less than 25 percent of physicians in a specific geographic area. Amid rising health care costs, this is one of several…
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The Unintended Public Health Consequences of Immigration Policing
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From the Trump administration’s promise to build a wall along the Mexican border to the separation of children from migrants attempting to enter the U.S., issues related to immigration policy have dominated American politics. Recent proposals by the Trump administration have attempted to restrict legal immigration by requiring green card…
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Preventing Opioid Abuse Through Mandatory Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs
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A new study suggests that mandatory physician-led monitoring of opioid prescriptions may be an important tool in the effort to combat opioid abuse. The opioid epidemic is an increasingly serious problem in the United States, with over 50,000 people killed by opioid overdoses in 2017. President Trump declared the crisis…
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Making Good Government Happen: A Conversation with Tom Komaniecki, Regional Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) is an independent division of HHS charged with protecting the integrity of HHS programs and the health and welfare of HHS program beneficiaries. The OIG is a nonpartisan “watchdog” that conducts audits, investigates fraud, and evaluates…
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Care for the Caretakers: Preventing Workplace Harassment in Home Health Care
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With the rise of the #MeToo movement, issues of workplace sexual harassment have come to the forefront. While the allegations from women in Hollywood and Washington have received the most public attention, sexual harassment occurs in nearly every industry. In particular, previous research shows that home health workers—89 percent of whom…
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Beyond Gentrification: How Vacant Lot Upkeep Can Improve Community Safety At An Affordable Price
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If every square block of abandoned land in American cities were placed side-by-side, the area would be larger than the state of Maryland. In fact, nearly 15 percent of all urban land is either vacant or barren. This limits the economic vitality of communities with vast swaths of unused land, which are disproportionately…
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Can Minimum Pricing Combat Alcohol Abuse? Evidence from Canada
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When thinking about “dangerous drugs,” illicit substances such as heroin and cocaine usually come to mind. However, there is compelling evidence that alcohol is substantially more harmful to society than illegal drugs; alcohol is the third leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S., behind only tobacco and poor diet. According to the World Health…
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Mapping the Opioid Epidemic through Integrated HIV Modelling in Rural Indiana
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Roughly two years prior to becoming Vice President of the United States, then Governor Mike Pence declared a public health emergency in Indiana. Amid the statewide opioid crisis, and fueled by heightened levels of poverty, Scott County experienced one of the largest known AIDS outbreaks in U.S. history. One community of less…
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Next Steps in Health Reform: An Interview with Kathleen Sebelius
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Kathleen Sebelius served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 to 2014, where she was instrumental in the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Prior to her service in the federal government, she served as Governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009. We asked Secretary Sebelius…
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Nutritional Effects of Food Deserts: A Story of Supply or Demand
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Despite possessing over one-third of the world’s wealth, America suffers from higher poverty rates and worse health outcomes than other wealthy countries. Poor health outcomes are not felt equally across the country but, rather, are disproportionately concentrated in the poorest neighborhoods. One potential reason for this inequality is that low-income…
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Black Births Matter: Institutional Racism and Infant Mortality Rates in the United States
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Infant mortality is a common indicator of a country’s overall health and economic progress. In the United States, an African American baby is twice as likely as a White baby to die during their first year of life. This fact embodies the country’s struggle with racism. While the U.S. rate…