Brandy Lipton, PhD, joined UCI Public Health this past October after spending five years as an Assistant Professor of Health Management and Policy at San Diego State University’s School of Public Health. She brings with her almost ten years of experience through various positions as a health economist at two federal government health agencies and as a consultant for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
I’m very excited to join UCI Public Health – not only to be part of the momentous growth of our Health Policy faculty group, but also to interact with the diverse student body. Public health has been in the spotlight during the pandemic and now more than ever we need to continue to bring to light important issues our communities are facing.”
Brandy Lipton, PhD
Lipton primarily focuses on how access to health insurance affects health behaviors and has found that states that offer Medicaid vision and dental health coverage see more adults utilizing those services and, in part, their children will as well.
“Dental and vision coverage for adults are optional in state Medicaid programs, and are often cut when state budgets are tight,” said Lipton, who obtained her doctoral degree in economics from Northwestern University. “Medicaid enrollees are unlikely to be able to pay out-of-pocket for these services, but lack of access can have profound effects on quality of life in some instances. While research is still underway, there is evidence in the clinical literature that oral health is linked with systemic health.”
Lipton’s current focus is on studying elderly populations who are also impacted by narrow health services – those who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, but do not have coverage for dental insurance, eyeglasses, and even hearing aids unless they live in a state that provides those services.
“There has been some progress made with the recent FDA rule enabling access to over-the-counter hearing aids which allows consumers to purchase without the need for a medical exam,” Lipton said. “There are currently proposals on the table to include dental, vision, and hearing aid coverage in traditional Medicare, but there is a lot of resistance to increasing costs. It will be important to demonstrate the benefits of access to these services among older adult populations.”
Evidence-based research to inform policy decisions
These are just a few examples of why Lipton does this research – when current policy fails to protect and support our communities – public health practitioners must step forward and advocate for reform.
Lipton’s current work sheds light on an under-researched area: Medicaid vision services and the unmet need for glasses among the elderly. “Since poor vision has been often cited as the fault for fall-related accidents, we need policy interventions to mitigate this risk.”
Other areas of interest for future work include access to school-based health services and academic and behavioral outcomes among children, health insurance expansions to undocumented populations, and the connection between policies that improve access to dental care and systemic health outcomes.
“I’m very excited to join UCI Public Health – not only to be part of the momentous growth of our Health Policy faculty group, but also to interact with the diverse student body. Public health has been in the spotlight during the pandemic and now more than ever we need to continue to bring to light important issues our communities are facing.” Lipton says.
