Upcoming Seminar: Impact of Oregon's Financial Assistance Policy on Medical Debt
Katherine Mosier Johnston | The Murphy Institute
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The Murphy Institute Health Policy Working Group announced its Spring Seminar presented by Dr. Tatiane Santos next Wednesday, April 23rd, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM in LBC 210.

Tatiane Santos, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor in the Health Policy and Management Department at the Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, will be presenting her working paper, "Oregon’s Financial Assistance Policy: Impact on County-Level Medical Debt in Collections and Hospital Charity Care Spending."

Dr. Santos' research focuses broadly on the critical roles of state and local public health departments, hospitals, and primary care providers in contributing to population health and equity. Her work often examines the impact of policy reforms on these key actors and their interactions.

This seminar is a product of the Center for Public Policy Research's (CPPR) health policy program, which leverages the expertise of The Murphy Institute's Health Policy Working Group. Organized by Tulane professors Mary Olson and Kevin Callison, the working group fosters interdisciplinary research and collaboration among professionals from Tulane’s Uptown and Downtown campuses to address pressing healthcare policy issues.

About the Health Policy Working Group Organizers:

  • Mary Olson is an Associate Professor of Economics at Tulane University and the leader of the Health Policy Working Group. Her research interests include health economics, the political economy of health policy, regulation, and the study of bureaucracy, with expertise in FDA regulation.
  • Kevin Callison, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, with appointments in the Department of Economics and The Murphy Institute. His research focuses on health economics, labor economics, and applied econometrics, with a particular interest in evaluating policies aimed at improving population health.

Seminar Abstract:
Dr. Santos' presentation will delve into the findings of her research examining the impact of Oregon's Financial Assistance Policy (FAP), implemented in 2019, on medical debt in collections and hospital charity care spending. Her study utilizes a difference-in-differences analysis of data from 2015-2022, comparing Oregon to states that expanded Medicaid in 2014 but did not implement a FAP by 2022.

The research reveals that Oregon's FAP was associated with a significant decrease in the share of the county population with medical debt in collections. Interestingly, the study also found that Oregon hospitals incurred larger bad debt expenditures after the policy's implementation and initially spent more on charity care.

Dr. Santos' findings suggest that targeted medical debt protections like Oregon's FAP can be effective in reducing the burden of medical debt, particularly in light of potential future challenges to healthcare access and affordability.

For more information. email Dr. Callison at kcallison@tulane.edu.