Biography
We are proud to congratulate Xinqi Li for successfully defending her dissertation titled “Effects of Involuntary Plan Switching on Coverage Continuity, Medication Adherence, and Utilization: Evidence from Medicaid Managed Care Plan Exits.”
Xinqi was admitted to the Program in 2014 with Omar Galarrága as her advisor. Her stated research interests were health insurance stability, health insurance design, low-income populations, and quasi-experimental methods. During her time in the program, Xinqi was awarded the 2018 Nora Kahn Piore Award, an award made annually to support undergraduate, graduate and medical students who wish to undertake research in health services, with a focus on health status and access to health care by poor and underserved people.
Xinqi discusses her experience in the HSR Doctoral Program, her research, and plans for the future.
Tell us about your time at Brown. What did you enjoy most about being a doctoral student here?
The most enjoyable and valuable aspect of being a doctoral student at Brown is definitely the people in the HSPP department. Every faculty member, whether he/she was on my dissertation committee, was incredibly generous with his/her time and support throughout my graduate career. From developing research ideas, to obtaining data, to securing funding, faculty members were eager to provide advice and feedback. The administrative and data support staff were also there to make sure that I had all the resources I needed to succeed. Finally, my fellow doctoral students were incredibly supportive and collaborative, which made taking classes and writing the dissertation a lot more fun!
What public health issues do you hope to address through your dissertation?
Throughout my graduate career, my research interests have been in health insurance coverage for low-income populations, Medicaid policies, and social determinants of health. My dissertation examined the effects of health insurance market dynamics, specifically plan exits, on access outcomes. My findings showed that when Medicaid managed care plans exited the market, they largely did not adversely impact access outcomes among the affected beneficiaries. However, these effects varied across states and across outcomes, suggesting the the impact of plan exits may be geographically dependent. In my future work, I hope to build on this dissertation and continue to help improve health insurance coverage and affordability for low-income populations.
What are your future plans now that you have finished your PhD?
I will be joining RTI International as a Research Health Economist!