AJMC® Research Roundup: March 2019

Hi, I’m Samantha DiGrande for The American Journal of Managed Care^®. Here are 5 findings from research published in the March issue.

Factors Influencing Primary Care Providers’ Decisions to Accept New Medicaid Patients Under Michigan’s Medicaid Expansion

1. In a statewide survey of primary care providers in Michigan after Medicaid expansion, nearly 8 in 10 currently accepted new Medicaid patients. The most common reasons for doing so were practice capacity to accept any new patients and availability of specialists for Medicaid patients.

Medicare Annual Wellness Visit Association With Healthcare Quality and Costs

2. Medicare beneficiaries who received an Annual Wellness Visit saw benefits including lower healthcare utilization and costs and higher rates of receiving preventive services in the year after their visit compared with those who did not have an AWV.

Fragmented Ambulatory Care and Subsequent Emergency Department Visits and Hospital Admissions Among Medicaid Beneficiaries

3. A study of Medicaid beneficiaries in New York finds that having more fragmented, less coordinated care across multiple providers was linked to a modest increase in the hazard of an emergency department visit, independent of a patient’s chronic conditions.

Cost Differential of Immuno-Oncology Therapy Delivered at Community Versus Hospital Clinics

4. According to this claims analysis, patients receiving immuno-oncology therapies had mean costs for medical and pharmacy claims that were more than $3650 lower per member per month if they were treated in a community-based clinic versus a hospital-based clinic.

Did Medicaid Expansion Matter in States With Generous Medicaid?

5. Of 4 states that had generous Medicaid eligibility levels before expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, New York experienced nontrivial gains in coverage after expansion and Massachusetts saw gains among certain subgroups, like the working poor.

To read all of these studies and more, visit AJMC.com.