Summaries of Independent Scientist (K) Awards

Lo Sasso, Anthony

Institution: University of Illinois at Chicago (previously Northwestern University)
Grant Title: Workplace Health Benefits and Employee Health
Grant Number: K02 HS11294
Duration: 5 years (2000-2005)
Total Award: $360,147

Project Description: This study will examine employer provided health benefits. It has three main goals:

1. To explore the interaction between local health care market factors, particularly the local health care safety net, and the employer's decision to offer health insurance and the employee's subsequent decision to accept insurance when it is offered.
2. To examine the firm behavior with respect to the provision of health care benefits at a national level by specifically looking at responsible health care purchasing behavior by firms.
3. To extend ongoing collaborative relationships to examine several specific disease areas and conditions that employers may affect, such as mental illness, substance abuse, and leave policies to care for elderly parents.

Career Goals: Dr. LoSasso intends to become an expert on the critical role, both currently realized and in potential, that employers play in the health of their employees.

Progress to Date: Dr. LoSasso has published over 20 manuscripts during the course of his K02. A recent publication that was greatly aided by the support afforded through the career development award was awarded the 2005 AcademyHealth Article of the Year Award. Lo Sasso has also served as principal investigator on an R01 from the National Institute of Mental Health to study a workplace expansion of mental health benefits; a grant from the Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the effect of the health care safety net on private health insurance coverage; and a grant from the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured, also funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study immigrant health insurance coverage. During the course of the career development award he also was principal investigator on two grants funded by the Searle Fund. Additionally, he has established several valuable collaborations with a wide range of organizations including the Health Research and Education Trust, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the Commonwealth Fund, University of Colorado, and the University of California, Irvine. He is developing into an outstanding independent health services researcher

Future Plans: Dr. Losasso's K grant ended in 2005.

Highlights and Specific Accomplishments:

• Associate Professor and Senior Research Scientist, Division of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago.
• 2005 AcademyHealth Article of the Year Award, for "The Effect of the State Children's Health Insurance Program on Health Insurance Coverage," Journal of Health Economics 2004;23:1059-82.
• Named permanent (3-year) member of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Mental Health Services study section, beginning October 2005.
• Editorial Board member, Medical Care Research and Review.
• Recent recipient of four grants focusing on:
  1. The Effect of State Policies on the Market for Private Non-Group Health Insurance.
  2. Immigrants and Employer-Provided Health Insurance.
  3. Workplace Mental Health Benefits & Selective Contracting.
  4. The Safety Net and Employer-Provided Health Insurance.

K-Generated Publications:

• Lindrooth RC, LoSasso AT, Lurie IZ. The Effects of Expanded Mental Health Benefits on Treatment Initiation and Specialist Utilization. Health Services Research 2005 Aug;40(4):1092-107.
• Rost K, Pyne JM, Dickinson LM, LoSasso AT. The Cost Effectiveness of Enhancing Primary Care Depression Management on an Ongoing Basis. Annals of Family Medicine 2005;3(1):7-14.
• Alexander A, Dranove D, Emanuel L, LoSasso AT. The Price of Palliative Care: Towards a Complete Accounting of Costs and Benefits. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine 2005;21:147-63.
• LoSasso AT, Lindrooth RC, Lurie IZ. The Role of Gender in a Company-Wide Effort to Expand and Destigmatize Mental Health Treatment, in Dave E. Marcotte and Virginia Wilcox-Gök eds., Research in Human Capital and Development, Volume 15: The Economics of Gender and Mental Illness, Elsevier Science Press, 2004.
• Dobrez DG, LoSasso AT, Heinemann A. The Effects of Prospective Payment on Rehabilitative Care. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2004;85:1909-14.
• LoSasso AT, Buchmueller TC. The Effect of the State Children's Health Insurance Program on Health Insurance Coverage. Journal of Health Economics 2004;23:1059-82.
• Johnson RW, LoSasso AT. Family Support of the Elderly and Female Labor Supply: Tradeoffs Among Caregiving, Financial Transfers, and Work. In Sarah Harper, ed., The Family in an Ageing Society, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 114-142.
• LoSasso AT, Rice T, Gabel J, Whitmore H. Tales from the New Frontier: Pioneers' Experiences with Consumer-Driven Health Care. Health Services Research 2004;39(4, part 2):1071-89.
• Gabel JR, Whitmore H, Rice T, LoSasso AT. Employers' Contradictory Views on Consumer Driven Health Care: Results from a National Survey. Health Affairs, April 21, 2004.
• LoSasso AT, Lyons JS. The Sensitivity of Substance Abuse Treatment Intensity to Copayment Levels. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research 2004;31(1):50-65.
• Lindrooth RC, LoSasso AT, Bazzoli GJ. The Effect of Urban Hospital Closure on Markets. Journal of Health Economics 2003;22(5):691-712.
• Gable J, LoSasso AT, Rice T. Consumer-Choice Plans: Are They More Than Talk Now? Health Affairs, November 20, 2002.
• LoSasso AT, Johnson RW. Does Informal Care Reduce Nursing Home Admissions For The Frail Elderly? Inquiry 2002;39(3):279-97.
• LoSasso AT, Lyons JS. The Effect of Copayments on Substance Use Treatment Expenditures and Treatment Reoccurrence. Psychiatric Services 2002;53(12):1605-11.
• Sheffield RE, LoSasso AT, Young CH, Way K. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Usage Patterns as Risk Factors for Hospitalization. Administration and Policy in Mental Health 2002;30(2):121-39.
• Bazzoli GJ, LoSasso AT, Arnould R, Shalowitz M. Hospital Reorganization and Restructuring Achieved Through Merger. Health Care Management Review 2002;27(1):7-20.
• Kniesner TJ, LoSasso AT. Intergenerational Labor Market and Welfare Consequences of Poor Health. Research in Labor Economics: Worker Wellbeing in a Changing Labor Market 2001;20:1-34.
• Dobrez DG, LoSasso AT, Holl J, et al. Estimating the Cost of Developmental Services Provided in General Pediatric Practice. Pediatrics 2001;108(4):913-22.
• Tai-Seale M, LoSasso AT, Freund DA, Gerber SE. Long Term Effects of Medicaid Managed Care on Obstetric Care in California. Health Services Research 2001;36(4):751-71.
• Zuckerman S, Bazzoli GJ, Davidoff A, LoSasso AT. How Did Safety Net Hospitals Cope in the 1990s. Health Affairs 2001;20(4):159-68.
• Tai-Seale M, Freund DA, LoSasso AT. Racial Disparities in Service Use among Medicaid Beneficiaries after Mandatory Enrollment in Managed Care: A Difference-in-Differences Approach. Inquiry 2001;38(1):49-59.
• Johnson RW, LoSasso AT. Balancing Retirement Security with the Needs of Frail Parents: Caregiving, Financial Transfers, and Work by Women at Midlife. North American Actuarial Journal 2001;5(1):104-8.
• Davidoff A, LoSasso TA, Bazzoli GJ, Zuckerman S. Impact of State Policy on Provision of Hospital Uncompensated Care, 1990-1995. Inquiry 2000;37(3):253-67.

AHRQ Research Portfolio: Socio-economics of Health Care; Training.
AHRQ Goals: Efficiency

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