Erica Eliason

@ericaeliason.bsky.social

Assistant Professor researching health policies and Medicaid + maternal, child, & reproductive health at Rutgers University. Advocating on behalf of the Gowanus Canal in my free time. 📍Brooklyn, NY. she/her/hers

Out now: we found increases in postpartum Medicaid coverage, ED visits, and behavioral health diagnoses during the COVID-19 continuous coverage provisions. Grateful for the support from @rwjf.org @academyhealth.bsky.social to partner with @ericaeliason.bsky.social and @maria-steenland.bsky.social

Erica Eliason@ericaeliason.bsky.social ¡ 5mo ago

Excited for this new publication in Milbank Quarterly! Using Medicaid claims, @rgourevitch.bsky.social, @maria-steenland.bsky.social and I find that extended Medicaid during COVID-19 was associated with increases in postpartum coverage, ED visits, and behavioral health diagnoses tinyurl.com/yfmbxtwz

LDI Fellow Aditi Vasan studies children’s access to Medicaid and CHIP. Two recent findings shed light on what happened following the COVID-19 public health emergency:

Some good news for kids' coverage! Aditi Vasan, Renata Howland, and I found that 12-month continuous eligibility under the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act increased children's Medicaid enrollment and helped offset children's coverage loss during the Medicaid unwinding doi.org/10.1377/hlth...

Children’s Medicaid Enrollment Increased During First Year Of Consolidated Appropriations Act | Health Affairs Journal

Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which required the provision of national twelve-month continuous Medicaid eligibility for children up to age nineteen, children’s Medicaid enrollment i...

doi.org

New research from Aditi Vasan shows that Medicaid continuous eligibility policies reduce coverage gaps and unmet care needs for kids. As federal policy shifts away from continuous eligibility, this evidence is more urgent than ever. Read the more here: ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/res...

Continuous Medicaid Eligibility Matters for Children

LDI Senior Fellow Aditi Vasan and colleagues quantified the impact of Medicaid continuous eligibility policies on children’s health care use.

ldi.upenn.edu

Editorial: Inconsistent health insurance coverage harms children's health, highlighting the need for stable, continuous policies like the 2023 Act amid challenges in the US' fragmented insurance landscape. ja.ma/3LkpoAV

JAMA editorial, published September 24, 2025, titled "From Churn to Continuity—Reforming Children's Coverage" by Aditi Vasan, MD, MSHP; Erica L. Eliason, PhD, MPH. It discusses children's access to healthcare and health insurance coverage.

“Although [children’s continuous coverage] may incur short-term costs, [it] leads to improved health, educational, and economic outcomes into adulthood.” Drs. Aditi Vasan & Erica Eliason frame new research on churn in a fragmented insurance landscape in @jama.com. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Reforming Children’s Health Care Coverage

Children need adequate and continuous access to health care to grow, develop, thrive, and ultimately become healthy adults. Losing health insurance coverage, even temporarily, can have devastating…

jamanetwork.com

BREAKING: A federal judge reversed National Institutes of Health's terminations of hundreds of critical research grants that were canceled because of their alleged connection to disfavored topics, including diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender identity. This is a major win for public health.

Excited for this new paper out with Aditi Vasan, Jordan Wood, Doug Strane, and @dbnelson.bsky.social! We find that newly implementing continuous eligibility in Medicaid during COVID-19 was associated with reductions in children’s unmet healthcare needs, particularly among Hispanic children.

JAMA Health Forum@jamahealthforum.com ¡ last yr.

Newly implementing continuous Medicaid eligibility under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was associated with reductions in children’s unmet care needs. https://ja.ma/45vgzwl

Children’s Continuous Medicaid Eligibility During COVID-19 and Health Care Access, Use, and Barriers to Care

Our new report on the role of Medicaid for women of child-bearing age in rural areas w/ state by state data is here Medicaid covers 47% births in rural areas Rural areas have been losing labor + delivery units. Medicaid cuts will make this scary situation even worse for moms and babies.

Bild