Reexamining Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Medicaid: Evidence from Random Assignment

This project aims to shed new light on racial and ethnic disparities in the Medicaid program, with a focus on Medicaid managed care (MMC). Yale will use novel administrative data obtained via research partnerships with states to study racial disparities in the Medicaid program and examine the policy levers that affect them, including how disparities change when states shift enrollees into private managed care plans. They will examine how the transition to MMC has affected racial disparities in access to high-quality care and intermediate health outcomes in Los Angeles. They will use random assignment to examine whether the tools used by different MMC plans have a causal effect on racial disparities in health care utilization, access, and beneficiary satisfaction. Lastly, they will examine whether beneficiaries of color make different plan choices than non-Hispanic whites, potentially identifying another pathway by which disparities may persist.