Findings from George Washington University Update Understanding of Managed Care (Eligibility Assistance Increases Insurance Enrollment Within Community Health Centers but Not At the State Level): Managed Care

2026 JUL 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Managed Care have been published. According to news reporting from Washington, District of Columbia, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Although ample evidence exists that community health centers lower federal medical expenditures, it has been hypothesized that the eligibility assistance offered by staff at health centers could also increase insurance enrollment and federal costs. We analyzed the effects of eligibility assistance on insurance enrollment at both the health center and state levels.”

Funders for this research include Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health, an internal program at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, United States Health Resources & Service Administration (HRSA).

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from George Washington University, “Using multivariate panel analysis with two-way fixed effects, we examined effects of eligibility assistance during the period 2016-23 to determine how insurance enrollment is affected at the health center and state levels. Data sources were administrative data from health centers and state-level enrollment data from Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and health insurance Marketplaces. Higher levels of eligibility assistance staffing are associated with modest increases in numbers of Medicaid and CHIP enrollees at health centers and modest reductions in numbers of uninsured patients. However, neither eligibility assistance nor overall health center size significantly affect state-level enrollment for any of the programs. Eligibility assistance modestly increases insurance coverage among health center patients, which improves health centers’ financial status and patient care capacity.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “But this assistance does not significantly increase overall Medicaid, CHIP, or Marketplace enrollment, nor does it raise federal expenditures.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Eligibility Assistance Increases Insurance Enrollment Within Community Health Centers but Not At the State Level. Health Affairs, 2025;44(5):606-613. Health Affairs can be contacted at: Project Hope, 7500 Old Georgetown Rd, Ste 600, Bethesda, MD 20814-6133, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Leighton Ku, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, United States. Additional authors for this research include Kristine Namhee Kwon, Feygele Jacobs and Sara Rosenbaum.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01311. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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