Allison Stolte, Predoctoral Student, Department of Sociology, Duke University, presents, "State-level Contexts and Birth Outcomes: Do Types of Public Policy Approaches Shape Birth Outcomes?"
Geographic disparities in birth outcomes have increased across the US over the last several years. Prior work suggests that socioeconomic structures and political institutions may shape such disparities through policies aimed at redistributing resources and providing health services (Montez, Hayward, and Wolf 2017; Navarro and Shi 2001). Of course, policies aimed at redistributing resources do not combine randomly. Instead, there are likely types of public policy approaches taken by states to shape socioeconomic and political contexts. In this paper, I first identify types of state policy approaches and then examine how the unique policy approaches shape birth outcomes. To do this, I merge state-level data on six domains of socioeconomic and political contexts to estimate profiles of state policy approaches using latent profile analysis. I then merge the identified profile data with rates of low birth weight and infant mortality from the CDC to regress state policy approach on rates of adverse birth outcomes. Preliminary findings identify three types of policy approaches taken by states. The policy approaches are associated with birth outcome rates, though differences exist by birth outcome examined.
Sarah Petry, Predoctoral Student, Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, presents, "Transitions in Older Adulthood and Life Expectancy: A Life Course Approach."
The population of Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible beneficiaries (“duals”) is growing rapidly. These beneficiaries are important to study because they comprise a vulnerable subset of publicly insured people in the US due to economic disadvantage, age, and chronic illness. However, little is known about how transitions into and out of dual eligibility, accompanied by care transitions, impact mortality. Previous research has shown that Medicaid enrollment has positive mortality effects on younger beneficiaries and that Medicare is protective for previously uninsured individuals. In addition, transitions in care setting are known to negatively impact health, but little is known about how long individuals can expect to live in skilled nursing facilities (SNF) before they die or move out. This study uses multistate life table methods on data from ten waves of the Health and Retirement Study to examine differences in dual-eligible and SNF life expectancy by gender, race/ethnicity, and age.