Volcker Alliance Supports ACA Implementation Research
In 2014, the Alliance partnered with the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, the Brookings Institution, and the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania to support a convening of university-based researchers studying implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
The Alliance provided support for two background papers that were presented at a two-day conference held at the Brookings Institution on “Evolving a Research Strategy for Learning from the Affordable Care Act (ACA)” in October, 2014. One paper, “Organizations Currently Tracking and Analyzing ACA Implementation,” is co-authored by Christine Dang-Vu and Caitlin Brandt, both research staff at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings, and surveys current and planned research on implementation of the ACA to make it easier for practitioners, researchers, and others to know who is studying what, access and apply the findings, and identify research gaps that need to be filled. A second paper, “Tapping a Network of Field Researchers to Enhance a Culture of Learning,” co-authored by Alice Rivlin, Director of the Health Policy Center at Brookings and Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy, and Richard Nathan, Senior Fellow at The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, explores the potential of creating a network of local researchers ready to work together to learn about implementation of the ACA from experience and measured field trials, and then to share their insights broadly with other researchers and practitioners.
Since the initial support we provided at the outset of this collaboration, the ACA Implementation Research Network has published 25 baseline state reports and two regional overview reports on state experiences in the West and the South. The network of indigenous field researchers in 40 states is coordinated by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, the Brookings Institution, and the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania, and directed by Mr. Nathan and Ms. Rivlin.
