Benjamin D Sommers

Biographic Data

ID5541676
NAMEBenjamin D Sommers
GIVEN NAMESBenjamin D
FAMILY NAMESommers
SIGNATURESOMMERS B D
AFFILIATIONSHarvard University
ORCID0000-0001-6507-6047
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS52
TOTAL CITATIONS20
AUTHOR COUNT52
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2012
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX3

  • Changes in Medication Use During Medicaid Continuous Enrollment and Unwinding

    Open AccessBenjamin N Rome, Jiali Han et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2026

    This cross-sectional study found that changes in Medicaid medication use during the COVID-19 pandemic continuous enrollment period and after unwinding were smaller than corresponding changes in enrollment. Unwinding had measurable impacts on patient access to prescription medications, but states that implemented protective policies were able to mitigate these changes

  • Trump-Era Health Coverage Changes—What Will We Know and When

    Open AccessAdrianna McIntyre, Rachel Swindle et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2026

    This JAMA Forum discusses health coverage implications for Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans and Medicaid after passage of the budget reconciliation package in 2025 and changes in the rates of uninsurance

  • Dental Coverage Through Medicaid Managed Care vs Fee-for-Service

    Open AccessHawazin W Elani, Nie Zhao et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2026

    This study found that although the generosity and scope of MCO dental benefits expanded over time, alignment with FFS programs remained inconsistent. As new legislation cuts federal funding to states, understanding how dental benefits are designed and delivered is critical to inform future coverage decisions and ensure equitable access

  • Driving and public transit barriers to dental care in the United States

    Open AccessMd Shahinoor Rahman, Shaila Rahman et al.ARTICLESSM - Population Health2026

    Despite the increasing number of dentists in the United States, the uneven distribution of dental clinics and inequities in public transportation contribute to ongoing disparities in access to dental care. This study examined travel times by car and public transit to the nearest dental clinic across the United States. We used data on 104,695 clinics from the IQIVIA practitioners' database. Drive and transit times to the nearest dental clinic were…

  • The 2024 Election and Potential Battle for the Social Safety Net

    Open AccessSara N Bleich, Benjamin D Sommers et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2025

    This JAMA Forum discusses potential changes under the Trump administration such as decreasing funding to federal nutrition programs, increasing barriers to enrollment in social safety net programs, and imposing work requirements

  • New Medicaid Enrollment Barriers and Lessons From Unwinding

    Open AccessAdrianna McIntyre, Jinwoo Kim et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2025

    This JAMA Forum discusses changes in enrollment across the individual states after unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage provision and the new enrollment barriers imposed after the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

  • US Coverage Changes During Medicaid Unwinding in 2023

    Open AccessAdrianna McIntyre, Molly Morein et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2025

    In this cross-sectional study, millions lost Medicaid during unwinding (with wide state variation), but survey data indicated smaller coverage reductions. Re-enrollment after termination and unawareness of COVID-19 pandemic coverage partially explain this discrepancy. Coverage losses were concentrated among certain demographic groups, with some evidence of reduced care affordability. These results may inform expectations about recent Medicaid pro…

  • Fillings Needed for Gaps in Government Dental Coverage

    Open AccessHawazin W Elani, Benjamin D SommersARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2025

    This JAMA Forum discusses the current dental coverage available in 3 government health insurance programs (Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act Marketplace) and identifies opportunities for improvement

  • The Public Health Damage—and Personal Toll—of Federal Worker Layoffs

    Open AccessBenjamin D SommersARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2025

    This JAMA Forum discusses the scope of cuts made by the Trump administration to the federal workforce, the personal damage to workers, and the future of government service

  • Rhetoric vs Reality on Immigrants’ Health Care Spending

    Open AccessBenjamin D Sommers, Patricia Mae G SantosARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2025

    This JAMA Forum discusses eligibility restrictions for emergency Medicaid coverage, cuts to health care coverage for legal immigrants, and the broader pattern of health care cuts made by the Trump administration and Congressional allies

  • Climate-Informed Patient Care as a Social Determinant of Health

    Open AccessAnna L Goldman, Anna Goldman et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2024

    This JAMA Forum discusses the implications for patient care by recognizing climate change as a social determinant of health

  • The Role of Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements—The Liger of Health Insurance

    Open AccessBenjamin D SommersARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2024

    This JAMA Forum discusses aspects of individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements and their expanded use over the last few years

  • Reconsidering and Measuring Patient Access in Medicaid

    Open AccessBenjamin D Sommers, Renuka TipirneniARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2024

    This JAMA Forum discusses the ways that policymakers can use different metrics that are more meaningful to patients when measuring patient access to treatment in the Medicaid program

  • Coverage and Access Changes During Medicaid Unwinding

    Open AccessAdrianna McIntyre, Benjamin D Sommers et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2024

    The results of this survey study indicated that 6 months into unwinding, 1 in 8 Medicaid beneficiaries reported exiting the program, with wide state variation. Roughly half who lost Medicaid coverage became uninsured. Among those moving to new coverage, many experienced coverage gaps. Adults exiting Medicaid reported more challenges accessing care than respondents who remained enrolled

  • Clinical Risk and Outpatient Therapy Utilization for Covid-19 in the Medicare Population

    Open AccessAndrew D Wilcock, Stephen M Kissler et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2024

    In this cross-sectional study, outpatient COVID-19 treatment was disproportionately accessed by beneficiaries at lower risk for severe infection, undermining its potential public health benefit. Undertreatment was not driven by lack of clinical access or treatment contraindications

  • Dental Coverage and Care When Transitioning From Medicaid to Medicare

    Open AccessHawazin W Elani, Benjamin D Sommers et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2024

    The results of this cross-sectional study suggest that transitioning from Medicaid to Medicare at age 65 years was associated with a lower level of dental coverage and may increase barriers to accessing dental care for beneficiaries who had Medicaid dental coverage before age 65 years. However, for adults living in states without Medicaid dental benefits, the transition was associated with increased use of dental services and no change in overall…

  • Survey-Reported Coverage in 2019-2022 and Implications for Unwinding Medicaid Continuous Eligibility

    Open AccessAdrianna McIntyre, Rebecca B Smith et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2024

    In this cross-sectional study, the uninsured rate declined considerably from 2019 to 2022 but was just one-fourth as large as the growth in administrative Medicaid enrollment under the pandemic continuous coverage provision. Survey-based Medicaid growth was far smaller than administrative growth. This suggests that many people who remained enrolled in Medicaid during the pandemic did not realize that their coverage had continued. These findings h…

  • Medicaid’s Edge Case—Potential Expansion and Work Requirements in Mississippi

    Open AccessBenjamin D Sommers, Lauren R Gullett et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2024

    This JAMA Forum discusses the ongoing debate in Mississippi about whether to expand Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

  • Navigating the Labyrinth of Pregnancy-Related Coverage for Undocumented Immigrants: An Assessment of Current State and Federal Policies

    Amanda DiMeo, Rasheca Logendran et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Public Health2024References: 17

    Insurance coverage for prenatal care, labor and delivery care, and postpartum care for undocumented immigrants consists of a patchwork of state and federal policies, which varies widely by state. According to federal law, states must provide coverage for labor and delivery through Emergency Medicaid. Various states have additional prenatal and postpartum coverage for undocumented immigrants through policy mechanisms such as the Children’s Health …

  • Worse Access, Quality, and Leadership—Redressing the Affirmative Action Ruling’s Litany of Harms

    Open AccessMichael O Mensah, Samuel R Sommer et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2023

    This JAMA Forum discusses the US Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action in the context of the potential harms to access to care, quality of care, and leadership for the health care system

  • New Federal Efforts to Address Food and Nutrition Insecurity

    Open AccessMiranda Lynch-Smith, Sara N Bleich et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2022

    This JAMA Forum discusses the expansion and improvement of federal food and nutrition programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, to combat food insecurity

  • Improving Prescription Drug Affordability Through Regulatory Action

    Open AccessLaina Bush, Benjamin D SommersARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2022

    This Health Forum discusses efforts to improve the affordability of prescription drugs spearheaded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the US Food and Drug Administration

  • Addressing Social Determinants of Health in Federal Programs

    Open AccessNancy De Lew, Benjamin D SommersARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2022

    Although high-quality, affordable health care is essential to addressing medical conditions when they arise, the strongest predictor of health outcomes in the US is not medical care but rather the broader social context in which people live and work. These social determinants of health, such as economic conditions, housing, nutrition, the environment, transportation, and education, are estimated to account for half of the county-level variation i…

  • The Harmful Impacts of Anti-Immigrant Policies on Maternal and Child Health

    Cinthya K Alberto, Benjamin D SommersARTICLEAmerican Journal of Public Health2022References: 7

  • Comparison of Income Eligibility for Medicaid vs Marketplace Coverage for Insurance Enrollment Among Low-Income US Adults

    Open AccessAditi Bhanja, Dennis Lee et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2021

    In this cross-sectional study using a regression-discontinuity analysis, meaningful gaps in insurance enrollment may have existed for those with incomes just above the eligibility threshold for Medicaid expansion, especially among younger adults. Policies expanding Medicaid income eligibility or zero-dollar premium marketplace plans are likely to be more effective at inducing enrollment than subsidized private plans with premium requirements