Findings from University of Minnesota in Health Insurance Reported (Search and You Shall Find: Geographic Characteristics Associated With Google…

Managed Care Weekly Digest

Findings from University of Minnesota in Health Insurance Reported (Search and You Shall Find: Geographic Characteristics Associated With Google Searches During the Affordable Care Act's First Enrollment Period)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- New research on Health Insurance is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from Minneapolis, Minnesota, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, "Previous studies indicate that Internet searching was a major source of information for the public during the launch of the Affordable Care Act, but little is known about geographic variation in searching. Our objective was to examine factors associated with health insurance-related Google searches in 199 U.S. metro areas during the first open enrollment period (October 2013 through March 2014), by merging data from Google Trends with metro-area-level and state-level characteristics."

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the University of Minnesota, "Our results indicate substantial geographic variation in the volumes of searching across the United States, and these patterns were related to local uninsurance rates. Specifically, areas with higher uninsurance rates were more likely to search in higher volumes for Obamacare and health insurance, after adjusting for sociodemographic, political, and insurance market characteristics."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "The enormous political, advocacy, and media attention to the Affordable Care Act's launch may have contributed to heightened Internet search activity, particularly in areas characterized by higher uninsurance."

For more information on this research see: Search and You Shall Find: Geographic Characteristics Associated With Google Searches During the Affordable Care Act's First Enrollment Period. Medical Care Research and Review, 2017;74(6):723-735. Medical Care Research and Review can be contacted at: Sage Publications Inc, 2455 Teller Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA. (Sage Publications - www.sagepub.com/; Medical Care Research and Review - mcr.sagepub.com)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting S.E. Gollust, University of Minnesota, Sch Public Hlth, Minneapolis, MN, United States. Additional authors for this research include X.Z. Qin, A.D. Wilcock, L.M. Baum, C.L. Barry, J. Niederdeppe, E.F. Fowler and P. Karaca-Mandic (see also Health Insurance).