Lukanen, Elizabeth
Deputy Director

p 612-626-1537
e elukanen@umn.edu

Elizabeth Lukanen Presents on NGA Webinar, "Medicaid Expansion: Planning a Fiscal Impact Analysis"

October 10, 2012: SHADAC Senior Research Fellow Elizabeth Lukanen presented on webinar titled, “Medicaid Expansion: Planning a fiscal Impact Analysis,” hosted by the National Governors Association (NGA) in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Network Initiative on September 27, 2012. The webinar was targeted toward state officials and highlighted the Medicaid Expansion Analysis Tool created by a team of State Network Technical providers that includes SHADAC.

The expansion analysis tool was created in order to facilitate an analysis of the fiscal considerations related to a state’s decision whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The webinar walked through the cost and savings elements for Medicaid expansion financial analyses and through state-specific assumption considerations.

Ms. Lukanen was featured as one of the authors of the expansion analysis tool and emphasized the importance of distinguishing between the data inputs, research based estimates and subjective assumptions that go into such analysis. She noted, “Many aspects of this policy impact are unknown and will be driven by subjective assumptions. For this reason, it is important to document the thinking behind the assumptions chosen. Though policy makers may not need or want this level of detail, it is important to be able to justify and explain the final output.”

The slides from the webinar, along with an audio recording of the event, are available here.