Date of Award
Spring 5-12-2017
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Public Health (MPH)
Department
Public Health
First Advisor
Lee Rivers Mobley
Second Advisor
Eric Wright
Third Advisor
Katherine Masyn
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Since 2010, there has been a wave of hospital closures and mergers across the United States. These closures have likely impaired access to ambulatory care services for many communities, particularly those in which only one hospital is present. Given that decisions to expand Medicaid were state-specific, there may be differences in number and type of hospital closures between states that expanded and did not expand Medicaid
AIM: The present study aims to investigate the association between state level Medicaid expansion and short-term hospital closures from 2010-2016 using multilevel modeling of hospitals, counties, and states. This analysis aims to control for hospital differences, county demographics, and state insurance market factors.
METHODS: Hospital level data was obtained from the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. For contextual county effects, small area health insurance, income, and poverty estimates were included (U.S. Census 2013). State decisions on Medicaid expansion and state-level insurance market data was also assembled and analyzed. Multilevel models were estimated in STATA gllamm.
RESULTS: Medicaid non-expansion was not associated with a greater risk of hospital closure once included in the multilevel model. Further, rural vs. urban status was not predictive of hospital closure. Smaller hospitals, nonprofit hospitals, and hospitals with a history of ownership change were associated with closure risk. Critical access hospital status was a protective factor against closure.
DISCUSSION: Local, state, and federal policies supportive of small and nonprofit hospitals may be beneficial in preventing more hospital closures in the coming years. Further, in-depth financial research and increased awareness of both the historical and current trends in hospital closures is recommended for researchers and policymakers.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/10097217
Recommended Citation
Allen, Jacob, "Medicaid Expansion and Hospital Closures: Examining Hospital, County, and State Effects in the Wake of the Affordable Care Act." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2017.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/10097217