Health Care Access and Use
Increasingly high and unaffordable health care costs can lead to forgoing medical care, which can impact overall health. This blog explores rates of forgone care due to cost over time, by state, and by subgroup using SHADAC’s State Health Compare.
In this blog, we use MNHA data to better understand access to mental health care and health care affordability in Minnesota. Our study's results suggest that individuals with unmet needs for mental health care in Minnesota may also have difficulty accessing it due to cost barriers.
What are MOUD? In this blog, we explore Medications for Opioid Use Disorder, reviewing a definition for OUD, a list of currently approved MOUD, how these medications work, and current barriers for their access and use.
This issue of gaps in care for teen health and young adults was the focus of a recent research study by SHADAC Research Fellow Robert Hest and SHADAC co-founder Kathleen Call published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
In May 2025, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) partnered with SHADAC on a survey to assess how Minnesotans perceive the Minnesota Medicaid program (known as Medical Assistance in Minnesota). You can read the details of the survey and our findings in this blog.
What Is a “Countercyclical” Policy or Program? How Medicaid Protects People When the Economy Falters
Countercyclical policy or programs (like Medicaid) have government spending increase during economic downturns and decrease during economic growth. This protects access to health care coverage - learn how in this blog.
State Health Compare uses data from the 2023 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to update various measures. Learn about this NHIS data and measures in this blog.
Discrimination in health care settings is an understudied factor in health care access and health outcomes, particularly for mental health. Even fewer studies have looked specifically at the intersections of multiple forms of unfair treatment in relation to provider discrimination, health care… Read more
What are pre-existing conditions? Pre existing conditions could once lead to automatic denial of insurance coverage. Learn more in SHADAC's latest Basics Blog.
Sunday, March 23, 2025 marked 15 years since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law. In this post, we take a look at what the Affordable Care Act is, how it’s changed America’s insurance coverage rates, and the impact of the ACA on uninsured populations.