Monitoring the Early Effects of the Affordable Care Act: Discussion
Steven Cohen
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is producing and analyzing survey data for use in monitoring the effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law on March 23, 2010. The ACA puts in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that will roll out over four years and beyond, with most changes taking place by 2014. Some changes have already begun. This session will describe how some NCHS surveys are being used to monitor the effects of the ACA. The National Health Interview Survey has new targeted questions to supplement its existing questions for monitoring the ACA, and its sample size has been increased to enhance the precision of state-specific estimates. The data are being used, for example, to monitor patterns of health care access and utilization. The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Health Care Survey are increasing sample sizes, and the former survey will be used, for example, to monitor healthcare workforce capacity as measured by the fraction of physicians accepting new patients. The new National Hospital Care Survey will include the potential for linkage to Medicare, Medicaid, and death records. Examples of early results will be provided.
