Findings from University of Wisconsin Yields New Findings on Influenza Vaccines (Utilization of Preventive Services By Women Enrolled In the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace): Immunization and Public Health – Influenza Vaccines

2022 JAN 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Vaccine Daily -- Investigators discuss new findings in Immunization and Public Health - Influenza Vaccines. According to news reporting out of Madison, Wisconsin, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “The Health Insurance Marketplace has offered access to private health insurance coverage for over 10 million Americans, including previously uninsured women. Per Affordable Care Act requirements, Marketplace plans must cover preventive services without patient cost-sharing in the same way as in employer-sponsored insurance (ESI).”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Wisconsin, “However, no study has evaluated whether the utilization of preventive services is similar between Marketplace enrollees and ESI enrollees. Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data for 2014-2016, we identified working-age women with Marketplace plans (n = 792, N = 2,567,292) and ESI (n = 13,100, N = 52,557,779). We compared the two groups’ receipt rates of five evidence-based preventive services: blood pressure screening, influenza vaccine, Pap test, mammogram, and colorectal cancer screening. Unadjusted results showed marketplace enrolled women had significantly lower odds of influenza vaccination, Pap test, and mammogram. However, after controlling for other factors, Marketplace insurance was not associated with lower receipt rates of preventive services, except for influenza vaccination (Adjusted OR = 0.64; 95% CI = 0.50-0.82). Regardless of an individual’s private insurance type, higher educational attainment and having a usual source of medical care showed the strongest association with the receipt of all investigated preventive services.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “With the increased role of the Marketplace as a safety net in the COVID-19 pandemic, more research and outreach efforts should be made to facilitate access to preventive services for its enrollees.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Utilization of Preventive Services By Women Enrolled In the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace. Preventive Medicine, 2022;154:106901. Preventive Medicine can be contacted at: Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science, 525 B St, Ste 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Preventive Medicine - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/preventive-medicine/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Nam Hyo Kim, University of Wisconsin, School of Pharmacy, 777 Highland Ave, Madison, WI 53705, United States. Additional authors for this research include Marwa Rawy and Kevin Look.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106901. 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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