Why explore the reform efforts with NHIS data?
Although the NHIS provides data by state, it hasn’t traditionally been used for state health reform evaluations. However, it offers some advantages for state evaluation over the CPS. First, the NHIS has a better measure of health insurance coverage than the CPS. It has monthly data which allows for modeling the timing of reform initiatives. This feature has been important especially for New York, with their particular circumstances surrounding 9/11. Prior to 9/11, Medicaid reform was being implemented in the state, but then after 9/11, Disaster Relief Medicaid came to the forefront. Afterwards, there was another shift back to the state’s reform initiative. Unlike the NHIS, the CPS doesn’t let us track that very closely. The NHIS also supports analyses of issues beyond health insurance coverage, including changes in access to and use of health care and health care costs under health reform. Why are you interested in examining health reforms at the state level? With much of the impetus f
