Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

An Examination Of Types Of Health Insurance And The Reported Prevalence Of Autism In The United States, Jennifer L. Thompson

Dissertations

The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders continues to rise despite barriers of changes to diagnostic criteria and lack of insurance coverage. Increases in prevalence affect costs associated with a disorder since cost of health care services are often estimated based on utilization of services. This can also affect an individual’s ability to access to health care services. To equitably distribute autism services to individuals an accurate estimation of the true prevalence of autism is needed.

Access to health care can be influenced by the type of insurance coverage a person holds. Other factors, such as socio-economic status, ethnicity, location of …

Developing A Diagnostic Tool Of A Community’S Health, Ruth Kurtycz

Dissertations

Where we live can affect nearly every aspect of our lives, including how long those lives will be. Previous studies have demonstrated large health disparities between communities in the United States; since the health of a community can significantly impact its residents, evaluating and predicting community health is of interest to many people. Currently the Federal government collects and publishes data on community-level demographics, housing, crime rates, and disease. State-level and non-governmental agencies track and share community housing prices, school performance, neighborhood safety, and other characteristics. In short, there is a wealth of information but the work being done around …

Behavioral Economic Modeling Of The Effects Of Symptom, Severity, And Cost On Seeking Medical Care, Mark J. Rzeszutek

Dissertations

While the United States has some of the highest healthcare spending in the world, it has some of the worst health outcomes. For example, maternal mortality in the United States is almost five times as high as in other similarly wealthy countries. It also has the highest rates of avoidable deaths. One of the reasons for this may be the cost of accessing healthcare due to privatized insurance. For example, Americans may avoid important preventive medical visits and other health screeners due to cost. While lack of health insurance has been correlated with decreased health utilization, a precise understanding of …