Presentation by Lacey Hartman, "State Variation in High Burden Spending for Health Care: Preliminary findings from new data in the Current Population Survey," at the Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Conference on May 4, 2012, in San Francisco, CA.

Download a PDF version of the slides here.

The Integrated Health Interview Series (IHIS) is a public data repository that harmonizes four decades of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The NHIS is the premier source of information on the health of the U.S. population. Since 1957 the survey has collected information on health behaviors, health conditions, and health care access. The long running time series of the NHIS is a powerful tool for health research. However, efforts to fully utilize its time span are obstructed by difficult documentation, unstable variable and coding definitions, and non-ignorable sample re-designs. To overcome these hurdles the IHIS, a freely available and web-accessible resource, provides harmonized NHIS data from 1969-2010. This paper describes the challenges of working with the NHIS and how the IHIS reduces such burdens. To demonstrate one potential use of the IHIS, utilization patterns in the U.S. from 1972-2008 are examined.

Davern, M., Blewett, L.A., Lee, B., Boudreaux, M., King, M. L. 2012. "Use of the integrated health interview series: trends in medical provider utilization (1972-2008)."  Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations 2012, 9:2. 

Presentation by Lynn Blewett, "Planning for Expansion Populations - Demographic Data Sources," at the National Governors Association's Planning for Expansion Populations Meeting on April 19, 2012, Minneapolis, MN.

Download a PDF version of the slides here.

Presentation by Lynn Blewett, "Using Population Data to Understand the Impact of the ACA," to the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP), April 11, 2012, Washington DC.

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The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) calls for significant policy changes that have meaningful and widespread implications for the U.S. health system. Given the magnitude and breadth of these provisions, policymakers and analysts need tools to estimate the potential effects on the health system and its participants. Microsimulation modeling is one such tool, serving as a mechanism for estimating the potential behavioral and economic effects of public policies on decision-making units.

This brief explains the basics of microsimulation modeling so that policymakers and analysts are able to secure the optimal model for their needs. With this in mind, the brief addresses three questions:

1. What are health policy microsimulation models and what are their components?
2. What are the similarities and differences among the five major federal health policy models?
3. What types of questions should policymakers and analysts consider when evaluating contracting options for health policy microsimulation?

See also the archive of a companion webinar held on March 21, 2012, "Predicting the Effects of the ACA - Understanding Microsimulation Models."