Sandra L Decker

Biographic Data

ID5542893
NAMESandra L Decker
GIVEN NAMESSandra L
FAMILY NAMEDecker
SIGNATUREDECKER S L
AFFILIATIONSNational Center for Health Statistics
ORCID0000-0001-7135-0647
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS9
TOTAL CITATIONS5
AUTHOR COUNT9
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2009
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2023
H-INDEX1

  • Covid-19 Admission Rates and Changes in US Hospital Inpatient and Intensive Care Unit Occupancy

    Open AccessGiacomo Meille, Sandra L Decker et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2023

    In this cross-sectional study of US hospital discharges in 45 states in 2020, hospital occupancy decreased during weeks with low COVID-19 admissions and increased during weeks with high COVID-19 admissions, with the largest changes occurring early in the pandemic. These findings suggest that surges in COVID-19 strained ICUs and were associated with large decreases in the number of surgical patients. These occupancy fluctuations may have affected …

  • Association Between Medicaid Dental Payment Policies and Children’s Dental Visits, Oral Health, and School Absences

    Open AccessBrandy J Lipton, Sandra L Decker et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2022

    This cross-sectional study found that more generous Medicaid payment policies were associated with significant but modest increases in children's preventive dental visits and excellent oral health. Further research is needed to understand the potential association between policies that improve access to dental care and children's academic success

  • Did the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act affect dietary intake of low-income individuals

    Open AccessGeetha M Waehrer, Partha Deb et al.ARTICLEEconomics & Human Biology2015

  • The Effects of Mandated Health Insurance Benefits for Autism on Out-of-Pocket Costs and Access to Treatment: The Effects of Mandated Health Insurance Benefits for Autism

    Open AccessPinka Chatterji, Sandra L Decker et al.ARTICLEJournal of Policy Analysis and…2015Cited by: 5

    As of 2014, 37 states have passed mandates requiring many private health insurance policies to cover diagnostic and treatment services for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We explore whether ASD mandates are associated with out-of-pocket costs, financial burden, and cost or insurance-related problems with access to treatment among privately insured children with special health care needs (CSHCNs). We use difference-in-difference and difference-i…

  • The Affordable Care Act Has Led To Significant Gains In Health Insurance And Access To Care For Young Adults

    Benjamin D Sommers, Thomas C Buchmueller et al.ARTICLEHealth Affairs2013

    The Affordable Care Act enables young adults to remain as dependents on their parents' health insurance until age twenty-six, and recent evidence suggests that as many as three million young adults have gained coverage as a result. However, there has been no evidence yet on the policy's effect on access to care, and questions remain about the coverage impact on important subgroups. Using data from two nationally representative surveys, comparing …

  • Racial Differences in Dementia Care Among Nursing Home Residents

    Open AccessManisha Sengupta, Sandra L Decker et al.ARTICLEJournal of Aging and Health2012References: 2

    The fact that non-Whites are more likely to rely on Medicaid and less likely to pay out of pocket for nursing home care explains part but not all of the difference. Most of the difference is due to the fact that non-Whites reside in facilities that are less likely to have special dementia care services or dementia care units, particularly for-profit facilities and those in the South

  • Emergency Department Volume and Racial and Ethnic Differences in Waiting Times in the United States

    Nancy Sonnenfeld, Stephen R Pitts et al.ARTICLEMedical Care2012References: 17

    BACKGROUND: Racial and ethnic differences in emergency department (ED) waiting times have been observed previously. OBJECTIVES: We explored how adjusting for ED attributes, particularly visit volume, affected racial/ethnic differences in waiting time. RESEARCH DESIGN: We constructed linear models using generalized estimating equations with 2007-2008 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data. SUBJECTS: We analyzed data from 54,819 visi…

  • The Effect of Medicaid Expansions on the Health Insurance Coverage of Pregnant Women: An Analysis Using Deliveries

    Open AccessDhaval M Dave, Dhaval Dave et al.ARTICLEINQUIRY The Journal of Health…2010

    Using data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey, this paper analyzes the effect of Medicaid eligibility expansions from 1985 to 1996 on the health insurance coverage of women giving birth. We find that the eligibility expansions reduced the proportion of pregnant women who were uninsured by approximately 10%, although the magnitude of this decrease is sensitive to specification. The decrease in the proportion of uninsured pregnant women ca…

  • Changes in Medicaid Physician Fees and Patterns of Ambulatory Care

    Open AccessSandra L DeckerARTICLEINQUIRY The Journal of Health…2009

    Controlling for state fixed effects and other factors, this paper estimates the effect of the generosity of Medicaid physician payment levels on the volume and site of ambulatory care received by Medicaid patients compared to privately insured patients. Results indicate that cuts in Medicaid physician fees lead to statistically significant reductions in the number of visits for Medicaid patients compared to privately insured patients. Cuts in fee…