Over the last several decades, state-level research has been one of the most fertile areas for evaluating and measuring the impact of coverage expansion initiatives. Research on states' innovation with Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as with insurance market reforms, has been critical in our understanding of the impact of policy changes to our complex public and private health care system. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it might appear that efforts to expand health insurance at the state level have lost their relevance for the policy community. However, this overlooks two key facts: first, lessons from state coverage expansions have formed the basis for many significant provisions of ACA. Second, and more importantly, state-level research will be a critical component of evaluating the impact of reform going forward.
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