HPI faculty members have been at the forefront of efforts to understand how reforms in the U.S. health insurance marketplace affect health utilization, quality of care, out of pocket costs, and health outcomes. This parallels similar work on the impacts of health insurance reform and universal coverage in HPI’s international programs.
HPI investigators have led a series of groundbreaking studies to examine how modern U.S. health plans with high out-of-pocket costs affect health care use and health outcomes, especially among vulnerable populations. These insurance types, called high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) are expanding rapidly and have become increasingly common under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). HPI researchers are conducting studies that will allow populations to be matched to the health insurance designs that optimize their health outcomes.
Another stream of research has examined the impacts of Massachusetts health reform and uptake of insurance through the Massachusetts Connector, one of the first two state health insurance exchanges.