Project Grant R01HS030083

This federal Project Grant award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) under the Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes (CFDA 93.226) program is providing $769,959 to the University of Pittsburgh to assess the impact of administrative burdens on enrollment in the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. The project has three specific aims: (1) determine if eliminating premium payment-related compliance costs affects reenrollment, (2) determine whether reducing the burden of information costs through advertising affects coverage take-up, and (3) create a person-centered understanding of how compliance, information, and psychological costs create barriers to marketplace coverage. The research will use a mixed-methods approach, including analyzing marketplace enrollment data and conducting semi-structured interviews in three diverse states.

The project includes a $128,523 sub-award to Providence College to support the research. The findings are intended to provide state and federal policymakers with actionable approaches to reduce the uninsured rate by making the marketplace enrollment process less burdensome, which is particularly relevant as millions of former Medicaid enrollees will need to navigate the marketplaces after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.