Sarah Benatar

Sarah Benatar, Ph.D., is a principal research associate in the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Her research investigates how public policies affect vulnerable populations’ health outcomes, access to care, use of services, and enrollment in coverage programs, with a particular focus on maternal and child health. She has led and participated in several projects focused on maternal and child health, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Medicaid, combining qualitative and quantitative methods to achieve the richest findings. Benatar is working on a national evaluation of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns enhanced prenatal care program; she leads the evaluation’s process measurement and monitoring task and is a senior member of the case study team. Benatar is also deputy project director for a multiyear evaluation of a home visitation and community-based program intervention in Los Angeles, and she is coleading a study to examine the impact of the Affordable Care Act on women’s preventive health care service use. Benatar earned a Ph.D. in public policy from George Washington University.