The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) supports research on state-level policy efforts through its State Health Access Reform Evaluation (SHARE) initiative. This editorial by Brian C. Quinn, RWJF Director, Health Policy Analysis in Research and Evaluation, introduces a special February 2011 supplement of HSR: Health Services Research, providing a framework for subsequent articles by eight SHARE grantees.

In a post-ACA health policy environment, state outcomes continue to be vital sources of information for two key reasons:

1. Previous state experimentation efforts, such as Massachusetts health reform, demonstrated that reforms can succeed and paved the way for ACA.
2. The need for state-level policy research will grow as states implement some of the largest and most important elements of ACA. State-level variations can provide evidence of how policy changes work in different settings.

Click here to access the full text of this editorial.  (Subscription required.  Please contact SHARE if you do not have a subscription.)

For a synopsis of the eight "lab reports," see "Harvesting the Lessons of State Health Policy" by SHARE Director Lynn A. Blewett and Andrew Bindman.