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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Peggy Gallup, RN, MPH, PhD, Maria Charito Ibarra, BA, Aiman Issa, BS, Shabaz Khan, BS, Jennifer Rabitor, BS, and Xuman Tian, BS. Department of Public Health, Southern Connecticut State University, 144 Farnham Avenue, New Haven, CT 06515, (203)392-6961, Gallup@scsu.ctstateu.edu
This graduate class project entailed an intensive review of each states’ Medicaid program, concerning program description, demographics, unique features, and health policy issues. The project entailed Internet training, didactic lectures, group activities, independent research, abstract preparation, and health policy debates. The students’ work resulted in an up-to-date summary of the national data on Medicaid, and issues pertaining to public health policy.
We illustrated the variation in Medicaid spending and coverage with graphs, tables and maps. States spent, on average, 18% of their budget on Medicaid, ranging from 7.8% in Alaska and Nevada to 33% in New York. The Federal contribution to Medicaid decreases, but does not eliminate the variation in Medicaid spending. The mean total state spending per capita was $251.72 (154.76 sd) and for combined federal and state spending $636.36 (224.15 sd), reducing the coefficient of variation from 61.0% to 35.0%. The number of Medicaid enrollees has a stronger correlation with the percentage of the state population over age 65 (R2=. 75) than with the percentage of the population whose income is below the federal poverty level (R2=. 26).
We identified unique aspects of state programs and discussed the possibility for future program changes. Tennessee’s innovative Tenncare program may be reduced because 26.9% of its expenditures go to that program. California is promoting cultural competency among its providers. As early as December 2002 there was discussion in New York and Florida about program cutbacks because of the economic effects of September 11th.
This Medicaid project offered students an excellent medium to intensely review the data and literature on Medicaid, and learn the significance of health policy and its role in government. Students had an opportunity to understand the complexity of Medicaid, and evaluate one of our nation’s most important health care plans. This academic challenge gave students an understanding of the problems faced by Medicaid eligibles to gain benefits. The data collection experience was challenging and the success of getting information from multiple sources depended on general Internet resources and information available from each state. One student expressed her frustration by writing to the director of Medicaid. Similar educational initiatives can provide students with a sound foundation for collecting information and analyzing important Public Health topics.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Medicaid, Internet
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.