DISPARITIES IN HEALTH CARE

Health care disparities exist in access to or availability between population groups defined by socioeconomic characteristics such as age, ethnicity, race, economic resources, or gender and populations identified geographically across the United States. CHSE evaluates the impact of Oregon’s efforts to reduce health disparities through Medicaid reform.

Selected Works

• Study finds people of color disproportionately dropped from Medicaid, JAMA Internal Medicine, 2024
• Increased use of complementary and alternative therapies for back pain following statewide Medicaid coverage changes in Oregon, 2021
• Health Care Expenditures Among Adults With Diabetes After Oregon’s Medicaid Expansion, 2020
• Access to Primary, Mental Health, and Specialty Care: A Comparison of Medicaid and Commercial Insured Populations in Oregon, 2020
• Addressing Social Determinants of Health through Medicaid: Lessons from Oregon, 2019
• Issue Brief: Oregon Medicaid efforts to reduce health disparities

HEALTH & CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Adults with criminal justice involvement (CJI) have higher behavioral health treatment needs (e.g., for mental illness or substance use disorder) and higher rates of communicable diseases (e.g., Hepatitis C, tuberculosis) than the general population. In Medicaid expansion states like Oregon, many adults with CJI are eligible for enrollment in Medicaid when they are no longer incarcerated. CHSE partners with the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission to improve understanding of health care needs for these individuals.

Selected Works

• Issue Brief: The Intersection of Criminal Justice Involvement and Medicaid in Oregon

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH (SDOH)

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are the environmental conditions in which individuals are born, live, learn, work and age that affect their health, well-being and quality of life. CHSE provides critical evidence to state Medicaid programs promoting the use of health-related services to help address issues such as food insecurity, housing, non-medical transportation and other social needs.

Selected Works

• Issue Brief: Columbia Gorge CCO: Making connections to social support for a healthier community
• Issue Brief: Oregon leverages Medicaid to address social determinants of health and health equity
• White Paper: Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Health Activities in Medicaid

DIABETES CARE

The prevalence of diabetes has increased substantially in the U.S. In 2017, more than 30 million people were diagnosed with this condition, more than twice as many as compared with 20 years prior. In addition to the personal and quality of life impacts, the economic costs associated with diabetes are substantial, reaching around $327 billion in 2017. CHSE research explores the impact of diabetes-related care as a result of Medicaid Expansion in Oregon.

Selected Works

• Health Care Expenditures Among Adults With Diabetes After Oregon’s Medicaid Expansion, 2020