Carefully re-read the following article from the course reading list: Sommer, B. D., Gunja, M. Z., Finegold, K., & Musco, T. (2015). Changes in self-reported insurance coverage, access to care, and health under the Affordable Care Act. Journal of the American Medical Association, 314(4), 366-374. Then prepare a written critique (short paper) by addressing the following points:

Introduction/Research Question

• Briefly identify the two-fold research question (or problem/issue or objective) addressed in this study.

Methods

• Describe the study participants, i.e., data source, for this research.

• Describe the research design for both of the studies reported in this work; explain how one of the studies provided a stronger design.

• Indicate the six parameters or outcomes, e.g., rate of being uninsured, that were reported in this study.

• Data from these studies were analyzed as both unadjusted and adjusted with adjusted analyses accounting for confounding factors that might influence the results in addition to any influence of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Identify the potential confounding factors, i.e., covariates, that were accounted for in the adjusted data; and include a citation which defines “covariates.”

Results

• Refer to Table 2 which summarizes the results from the full sample (n = 507,055 adults). Based on footnote “c”, indicate which of the six parameters (outcomes) in this study were statistically significant (p ˂ 0.05) at the post-ACA time period compared to the pre-ACA time period.

• Refer to Table 4 which summarizes the results from the low-income sample (n = 48,905 adults). Indicate which of the six parameters (outcomes) in this study were statistically
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significant (p ˂ 0.05) at the post-ACA time period compared to the pre-ACA time period, i.e., net change after ACA.

Critical Thinking and Conclusion

• Comment on the response rate to the survey that served as the data source for this study. Although the researchers openly addressed the survey response rate and compared the rate to federal survey data (which are not immediately accessible), provide one explanation from your perspective for how a low response rate might typically impact on research results.

• Provide a concluding comment regarding this study.