In this lecture, professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, Chris Ruhm, discusses family medical leave policy in the United States. Ruhm looks at where we are now, how we got here and how to move forward.

How much did clinically significant anxiety and depression increase among US adults during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic? In this survey study of more than 1.4 million respondents in the US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, responses to a screening question calibrated to a 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire score of 6 or greater suggested that aggregate prevalence of clinically significant anxiety and depression increased only modestly overall among US adults in 2020 compared with 2017 to 2019.

Findings from the Batten School's Christopher Ruhm and colleagues at Harvard question the accuracy of the CDC’s Household Pulse survey on mental health.

This study reviews quasi-experimental studies that examine the relationship between opioids and health and healthcare, and crime outcomes in the U.S.

To lower health care costs, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) offer tax incentives encouraging people to trade off current consumption against future consumption. This paper tests whether consumers use HSAs as self-insurance over the life cycle. 

Batten professor Sebastian Tello-Trillo shares new research suggesting that health insurance coverage for kids through Medicaid and CHIP helps their moms.

The Batten Undergraduate Council, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and UVA's Equity Collaborative will host a panel discussion on pressing issues of mental health policy, advocacy and intersectionality.

Sebastian Tello-Trillo, an assistant professor in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, explains the positive “spill-up” effect on parents of children covered by Medicaid.

New research shows that expansions in children’s Medicaid eligibility increases the likelihood a mother is married, decreases her labor market participation, and reduces her smoking and alcohol consumption.

Two Batten professors examine whether the least educated population groups experienced the worst mortality trends at the beginning of the 21st century by measuring changes in mortality across education quartiles.