Social Work LIVE: Heidi Allen and Medicaid Myths

For the third show of the spring series, Professor Friedman will be interviewing Professor Heidi Allen for an update on the health care debate, which impacts us all. They will focus their conversation on the myths surrounding Medicaid, including her thoughts on what its fate might be in a Medicare for All initiative.

REGISTER to receive a reminder as well as a link to the stream shortly after the program begins (the link isn’t generated until we go live). Alternatively, you can go to CSSW’s Facebook page at noon. The stream will appear as the first post.

About This Week’s Guest

Heidi Allen (bio) is an associate professor at the Columbia School of Social Work. She played a key role in designing, implementing, and evaluating the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, the first randomized study in the United States to evaluate the impact of expanding Medicaid coverage to uninsured adults. She has published articles on the study’s findings and has also been advising states on Medicaid expansion and suggesting ways to improve the delivery of care to low-income enrollees. A believer in the use of data to drive change, Dr. Allen has focused much of her work on exposing some of the persistent myths surrounding the Medicaid program. In 2017 she delivered an influential TEDMED talk called “The cost of being uninsured in America.” Currently, she is working on a new study assessing the impact of Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansions on housing stability. Last year Allen was named to the Health Disparities and Equity Promotion study section of the National Institutes of Health.

About the Host

Michael Friedman (bio page) is a social worker with over fifty years of experience in mental health and public policy. He has chaired, founded, or directed numerous city and state agencies and published approximately 200 articles, chapters, and essays, including a parody, The Diagnostic Manual of Mishegas. Since retiring he has continued to teach at the Columbia School of Social Work and to write about mental health, aging, and other topics at www.MichaelBFriedman.com and in a column for MedPageToday (see latest). He is also a semi-professional photographer and jazz pianist.

Questions?

Please contact swcommunications@columbia.edu.