Helen Levy
Biographic Data
| ID | 3960531 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Helen Levy |
| GIVEN NAMES | Helen |
| FAMILY NAME | Levy |
| SIGNATURE | LEVY H |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Michigan |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4316-9143 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 75 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Health Care Utilization and Costs for Older Adults Aging Into Medicare After the Affordable Care Act
This study found modest evidence of reductions in out-of-pocket costs and improvements in health among adults entering Medicare after the ACA. Insurance coverage and financial assistance should be preserved and enhanced to improve health and health care access among vulnerable older adults
Measuring Poverty
Measuring poverty is a complex undertaking. It requires extensive research, expert judgment of how to define resources and needs, and a data infrastructure that enables accurate measurement. In this article, we briefly summarize the evolution of poverty measurement in the U.S. and discuss the recommended changes to the Supplemental Poverty Measure that were recently proposed by an expert panel of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, a…
Developing an Adjunct Services Approach to Identify the Use of Procedures Not Covered by Health Insurance
BACKGROUND: Health care claims have an inherent limitation in that noncovered services are unreported. This limitation is particularly problematic when researchers wish to study the effects of changes in the insurance coverage of a service. In prior work, we studied the change in the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) after an employer added coverage. To estimate IVF use before coverage began, we developed and tested an Adjunct Services Approach…
Medicaid Expansion and the Unemployed
The Benefits of Medicaid Expansion
Since 2012, states have had the option of expanding Medicaid to all low-income adults, with nearly full financing from the federal government. To date, 36 states and the District of Columbia have expanded their programs in this way, while 14 states have not. This unintentional experiment means that we now have evidence on what happens when a state expands Medicaid coverage. To be specific, we know that Medicaid expansion yields tangible benefits …
What’s Left of the Affordable Care Act? A Progress Report
Helen Levy a , Andrew Ying b , Nicholas Bagley c , What's Left of the Affordable Care Act? A Progress Report, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 2, The Social, Political, and Economic Effects of the Affordable Care Act (July 2020), pp. 42-66
Changes in Health Care Access and Utilization for Low-SES Adults Aged 51–64 Years After Medicaid Expansion
After Medicaid expansion, low-education status adults aged 51-64 years were more likely to be hospitalized, suggesting poor baseline access to chronic disease management and pent-up demand for hospital services
Changes in Veterans’ Coverage and Access to Care Following the Affordable Care Act, 2011–2017
Objectives. To evaluate the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on US veterans’ access to care. Methods. We used US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to compare measures of veterans’ coverage and access to care, including primary care, for 3-year periods before (2011–2013) and after (2015–2017) ACA coverage provisions went into effect. We used difference-in-differences analyses to compare changes in Medicaid expansion states wit…
Attitudes About Consumer Strategies Among Americans in High-deductible Health Plans
BACKGROUND: More than 70 million Americans are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), with high upfront cost-sharing to encourage strategies such as price shopping to mitigate out-of-pocket spending. Recent research suggests HDHP enrollees are reluctant to engage in these consumer strategies, but there is little information on why. OBJECTIVES: To describe associations between HDHP enrollees' attitudes about and intent to engage in cons…
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Lifetime Prevalence of Homelessness in the United States
Homelessness in the United States is often examined using cross-sectional, point-in-time samples. Any experience of homelessness is a risk factor for adverse outcomes, so it is also useful to understand the incidence of homelessness over longer periods. We estimate the lifetime prevalence of homelessness among members of the Baby Boom cohort (n = 6,545) using the 2012 and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally represent…
Health Reform and Retirement
Although many observers had predicted that an unintended consequence of health reform would be reduced labor supply, we find no evidence of this for older workers in the first 2.5 years after the law's major coverage provisions took effect
Effect of the Affordable Care Act on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Insurance Coverage
Objectives. To document how health insurance coverage changed for White, Black, and Hispanic adults after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect. Methods. We used data from the American Community Survey from 2008 to 2014 to examine changes in the percentage of nonelderly adults who were uninsured, covered by Medicaid, or covered by private health insurance. In addition to presenting overall trends by race/ethnicity, we stratified the anal…
Income, Poverty, and Material Hardship Among Older Americans
Using data from the 2008 and 2010 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to analyze the determinants of material hardship among individuals ages sixty-five and older, I look at five self-reported hardships: food insecurity, skipped meals, medication cutbacks, difficulty paying bills, and dissatisfaction with one's financial situation. One-fifth of the elderly report one or more of these hardships. Although hardship is more likely for those with…
How Did Medicare Part D Affect Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Drug Coverage
Pronounced racial/ethnic disparities in drug coverage in the years just before Medicare eligibility are eliminated by access to public coverage at age 65. This was true even before the introduction of Part D
Health Reform
It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country."Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, dissenting opinion in New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann 285 U.S. 262 (1932
The Evolution of Medical Spending Risk
How has the economic risk of health spending changed over time for U.S. households? We describe trends in aggregate health spending in the United States and how private insurance markets and public insurance programs have changed over time. We then present evidence from Consumer Expenditure Survey microdata on how the distribution of household spending on health—that is, out-of-pocket payments for medical care plus the household's share of health…
Aspects of Health Reform
From 2001 to 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured (ERIU), housed at the University of Michigan. The goals of ERIU were to increase, diversify, and improve the quality and quantity of economics research on the uninsured, and to translate that research into the type of resources that are useful to policymakers, policy analysts, researchers, and members of the media. One of the primary obj…
Take-up of Medicare Part D
For the most part, Medicare beneficiaries seem to have been able to make economically rational decisions about Part D enrollment despite the complexity of the program
What Do People Buy When They Don't Buy Health Insurance and What Does That Say about Why They are Uninsured
Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, this study compares household spending on different goods by insured versus uninsured households, controlling for total spending and demographic characteristics. The analysis shows that uninsured households, on average, spend more on housing, food, alcohol, and tobacco compared to insured households. These results suggest that both prices and preferences, in addition to income, help explain why som…
Data Watch
In this paper, we discuss some important data sets that can be used by economists interested in conducting research in health economics. We describe six types of data sets: health components of data sets traditionally used by economists; longitudinal surveys of health and economic behavior; data on employer-provided insurance; cross-sectional surveys of households that focus on health; data on health care providers; and vital statistics. We summa…
Through the Window, out the Door
Effect of the Affordable Care Act on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Insurance Coverage
Objectives. To document how health insurance coverage changed for White, Black, and Hispanic adults after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect. Methods. We used data from the American Community Survey from 2008 to 2014 to examine changes in the percentage of nonelderly adults who were uninsured, covered by Medicaid, or covered by private health insurance. In addition to presenting overall trends by race/ethnicity, we stratified the anal…
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Lifetime Prevalence of Homelessness in the United States
Homelessness in the United States is often examined using cross-sectional, point-in-time samples. Any experience of homelessness is a risk factor for adverse outcomes, so it is also useful to understand the incidence of homelessness over longer periods. We estimate the lifetime prevalence of homelessness among members of the Baby Boom cohort (n = 6,545) using the 2012 and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally represent…
Take-up of Medicare Part D
For the most part, Medicare beneficiaries seem to have been able to make economically rational decisions about Part D enrollment despite the complexity of the program
Measuring Poverty
Measuring poverty is a complex undertaking. It requires extensive research, expert judgment of how to define resources and needs, and a data infrastructure that enables accurate measurement. In this article, we briefly summarize the evolution of poverty measurement in the U.S. and discuss the recommended changes to the Supplemental Poverty Measure that were recently proposed by an expert panel of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, a…
What’s Left of the Affordable Care Act? A Progress Report
Helen Levy a , Andrew Ying b , Nicholas Bagley c , What's Left of the Affordable Care Act? A Progress Report, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 2, The Social, Political, and Economic Effects of the Affordable Care Act (July 2020), pp. 42-66
Income, Poverty, and Material Hardship Among Older Americans
Using data from the 2008 and 2010 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to analyze the determinants of material hardship among individuals ages sixty-five and older, I look at five self-reported hardships: food insecurity, skipped meals, medication cutbacks, difficulty paying bills, and dissatisfaction with one's financial situation. One-fifth of the elderly report one or more of these hardships. Although hardship is more likely for those with…
Changes in Veterans’ Coverage and Access to Care Following the Affordable Care Act, 2011–2017
Objectives. To evaluate the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on US veterans’ access to care. Methods. We used US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to compare measures of veterans’ coverage and access to care, including primary care, for 3-year periods before (2011–2013) and after (2015–2017) ACA coverage provisions went into effect. We used difference-in-differences analyses to compare changes in Medicaid expansion states wit…
Changes in Health Care Access and Utilization for Low-SES Adults Aged 51–64 Years After Medicaid Expansion
After Medicaid expansion, low-education status adults aged 51-64 years were more likely to be hospitalized, suggesting poor baseline access to chronic disease management and pent-up demand for hospital services
Health Reform and Retirement
Although many observers had predicted that an unintended consequence of health reform would be reduced labor supply, we find no evidence of this for older workers in the first 2.5 years after the law's major coverage provisions took effect
Data Watch
In this paper, we discuss some important data sets that can be used by economists interested in conducting research in health economics. We describe six types of data sets: health components of data sets traditionally used by economists; longitudinal surveys of health and economic behavior; data on employer-provided insurance; cross-sectional surveys of households that focus on health; data on health care providers; and vital statistics. We summa…
Through the Window, out the Door
What Do People Buy When They Don't Buy Health Insurance and What Does That Say about Why They are Uninsured
Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, this study compares household spending on different goods by insured versus uninsured households, controlling for total spending and demographic characteristics. The analysis shows that uninsured households, on average, spend more on housing, food, alcohol, and tobacco compared to insured households. These results suggest that both prices and preferences, in addition to income, help explain why som…
The Evolution of Medical Spending Risk
How has the economic risk of health spending changed over time for U.S. households? We describe trends in aggregate health spending in the United States and how private insurance markets and public insurance programs have changed over time. We then present evidence from Consumer Expenditure Survey microdata on how the distribution of household spending on health—that is, out-of-pocket payments for medical care plus the household's share of health…
Aspects of Health Reform
From 2001 to 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured (ERIU), housed at the University of Michigan. The goals of ERIU were to increase, diversify, and improve the quality and quantity of economics research on the uninsured, and to translate that research into the type of resources that are useful to policymakers, policy analysts, researchers, and members of the media. One of the primary obj…
Take-up of Medicare Part D
For the most part, Medicare beneficiaries seem to have been able to make economically rational decisions about Part D enrollment despite the complexity of the program
Health Reform
It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country."Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, dissenting opinion in New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann 285 U.S. 262 (1932
How Did Medicare Part D Affect Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Drug Coverage
Pronounced racial/ethnic disparities in drug coverage in the years just before Medicare eligibility are eliminated by access to public coverage at age 65. This was true even before the introduction of Part D
Income, Poverty, and Material Hardship Among Older Americans
Using data from the 2008 and 2010 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to analyze the determinants of material hardship among individuals ages sixty-five and older, I look at five self-reported hardships: food insecurity, skipped meals, medication cutbacks, difficulty paying bills, and dissatisfaction with one's financial situation. One-fifth of the elderly report one or more of these hardships. Although hardship is more likely for those with…
Health Reform and Retirement
Although many observers had predicted that an unintended consequence of health reform would be reduced labor supply, we find no evidence of this for older workers in the first 2.5 years after the law's major coverage provisions took effect
Effect of the Affordable Care Act on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Insurance Coverage
Objectives. To document how health insurance coverage changed for White, Black, and Hispanic adults after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect. Methods. We used data from the American Community Survey from 2008 to 2014 to examine changes in the percentage of nonelderly adults who were uninsured, covered by Medicaid, or covered by private health insurance. In addition to presenting overall trends by race/ethnicity, we stratified the anal…
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Lifetime Prevalence of Homelessness in the United States
Homelessness in the United States is often examined using cross-sectional, point-in-time samples. Any experience of homelessness is a risk factor for adverse outcomes, so it is also useful to understand the incidence of homelessness over longer periods. We estimate the lifetime prevalence of homelessness among members of the Baby Boom cohort (n = 6,545) using the 2012 and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally represent…
Changes in Veterans’ Coverage and Access to Care Following the Affordable Care Act, 2011–2017
Objectives. To evaluate the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on US veterans’ access to care. Methods. We used US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to compare measures of veterans’ coverage and access to care, including primary care, for 3-year periods before (2011–2013) and after (2015–2017) ACA coverage provisions went into effect. We used difference-in-differences analyses to compare changes in Medicaid expansion states wit…
Attitudes About Consumer Strategies Among Americans in High-deductible Health Plans
BACKGROUND: More than 70 million Americans are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), with high upfront cost-sharing to encourage strategies such as price shopping to mitigate out-of-pocket spending. Recent research suggests HDHP enrollees are reluctant to engage in these consumer strategies, but there is little information on why. OBJECTIVES: To describe associations between HDHP enrollees' attitudes about and intent to engage in cons…
The Benefits of Medicaid Expansion
Since 2012, states have had the option of expanding Medicaid to all low-income adults, with nearly full financing from the federal government. To date, 36 states and the District of Columbia have expanded their programs in this way, while 14 states have not. This unintentional experiment means that we now have evidence on what happens when a state expands Medicaid coverage. To be specific, we know that Medicaid expansion yields tangible benefits …
What’s Left of the Affordable Care Act? A Progress Report
Helen Levy a , Andrew Ying b , Nicholas Bagley c , What's Left of the Affordable Care Act? A Progress Report, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 2, The Social, Political, and Economic Effects of the Affordable Care Act (July 2020), pp. 42-66
Changes in Health Care Access and Utilization for Low-SES Adults Aged 51–64 Years After Medicaid Expansion
After Medicaid expansion, low-education status adults aged 51-64 years were more likely to be hospitalized, suggesting poor baseline access to chronic disease management and pent-up demand for hospital services
Medicaid Expansion and the Unemployed
Developing an Adjunct Services Approach to Identify the Use of Procedures Not Covered by Health Insurance
BACKGROUND: Health care claims have an inherent limitation in that noncovered services are unreported. This limitation is particularly problematic when researchers wish to study the effects of changes in the insurance coverage of a service. In prior work, we studied the change in the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) after an employer added coverage. To estimate IVF use before coverage began, we developed and tested an Adjunct Services Approach…
Measuring Poverty
Measuring poverty is a complex undertaking. It requires extensive research, expert judgment of how to define resources and needs, and a data infrastructure that enables accurate measurement. In this article, we briefly summarize the evolution of poverty measurement in the U.S. and discuss the recommended changes to the Supplemental Poverty Measure that were recently proposed by an expert panel of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, a…
Health Care Utilization and Costs for Older Adults Aging Into Medicare After the Affordable Care Act
This study found modest evidence of reductions in out-of-pocket costs and improvements in health among adults entering Medicare after the ACA. Insurance coverage and financial assistance should be preserved and enhanced to improve health and health care access among vulnerable older adults
Healthcare Policy and Management (16 works) · Health care (13 works) · Medicine (13 works) · Economics (11 works) · Business (10 works) · Economic growth (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Gerontology (8 works) · Global Health Care Issues (8 works) · Health insurance (7 works)