News & Bulletins
The Hilltop Institute periodically posts news items and issues electronic bulletins to disseminate information about Hilltop activities and publications. Below are the three most recent. Go to the News and Bulletin Archive, below, to view previous posts.
Bulletin: Hilltop Studies the Costs to Medicaid Attributable to Tobacco Use
The Hilltop Institute has just completed a study funded by the Center for Mississippi Health Policy titled Estimating the Costs to Mississippi Medicaid Attributable to Tobacco. To conduct the study, Hilltop researchers analyzed Mississippi Medicaid claims data and quantified the financial impact of tobacco use on Mississippi’s Medicaid program. Hilltop Executive Director Cynthia Woodcock was principal investigator and Senior Policy Analyst Charles Betley was project manager.
The Center for Mississippi Health Policy also published an issue brief that summarizes the study methodology and elaborates on the policy considerations.
01/08/2019
Hilltop Publishes Community Health Resources Commission Program Assessment Report
The Hilltop Institute has just published a summary report of an assessment it conducted of four grant programs funded by the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission (CHRC). The mission of the CHRC is to increase access to care and build capacity among the state’s safety net providers. In spring 2016, the CHRC contracted with Hilltop to assess the programs of four selected 2016 grantees: Potomac Healthcare Foundation, Lower Shore Clinic, Garrett County Health Department, and Baltimore City Health Department. The objective of the assessment was to determine the extent to which the programs had an impact on health services utilization and costs for participating Medicaid beneficiaries. Hilltop’s summary report discusses the assessment methodology, limitations, and key findings. Read the report.
12/06/2018
Hilltop Special Advisor Co-Authors Brief on Medicaid Buy-In
Hilltop Special Advisor and former Executive Director John Kaelin has co-authored a Rockefeller Institute of Government issue brief titled Medicaid Buy-In: Questions of Purpose and Design. In the brief, Kaelin and co-author Katherine Hempstead of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation discuss the idea of states using Medicaid as a platform for coverage expansion through Medicaid buy-in—initiatives that use part of the structure of the Medicaid program to open coverage, for a fee, to populations not usually eligible for Medicaid. The brief discusses three types of buy-ins and design issues that should be considered and concludes with a discussion of the use of Medicaid buy-in to address access to and affordability of health care.
11/20/2018