Evaluation of a West Virginia health benefit exchange

The state of West Virginia is developing a health insurance exchange in order to partially fulfill requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It is expected that thousands of residents, many living in rural areas of the state, will take advantage of the exchange and gain access to health insurance coverage. Researchers have developed a five-year evaluation plan to capture changes in health and economic outcomes. This plan also includes a component looking at marketing related issues such as patient literacy, satisfaction, and quality of service. Several barriers and opportunities exist related to this type of evaluation including the rural nature of the population, ability to collect data from electronic health systems, and the fact that the initial enrollment period will be a once in-a-lifetime opportunity to evaluate the effects of the health insurance exchange on population health. We will present the various elements of the evaluation plan including methods of data collection and analyses across health, marketing, and economics. We will also present baseline data gathered on population health in West Virginia and expected outcomes as implementation continues. This information will be beneficial to other researchers and policymakers who are trying to evaluate the effects of health policy on population health.