Wendy Yi Xu, PhD
Associate Professor; Joint Appointment, College of Public Affairs
Health Services Management and Policy
Biography
Low-income Americans are more likely than higher-income individuals to have multiple chronic conditions, older, living in rural areas with poor access to appropriate health care, and are vulnerable to higher financial burdens from health care spending. Health care for the vulnerable populations has been a focus in my research, which addresses the causes of these problems arising from certain aspects of the U.S. health care system design, as well as the consequences of health policies attending to these issues.
My research examines two topics related to accessing adequacy and financial burdens in vulnerable populations: (1) the redistributive effects of insurance benefits on consumers of different demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and (2) disparities in cost-related access to care and provider supply adequacy for vulnerable populations. My research has primarily employed complex survey data and large administrative claims databases.
Ongoing funded projects:
"Investigating Effect of State Surprise Billing Regulations on Commercial Insurance Plan Enrollees". Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The goal of the study is to investigate the effects of balance billing regulations on surprise billing practices and health care prices.
"Network Regulation and Consumer Access Project". Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In this project, we conduct a 'secret shopper' survey to understand consumers' experience in navigating provider networks.
"Disparities in Health Care Use Among Patients with Dementia Related Disorders". National Institute On Minority Health and Health Disparities. This project examines cancer screening use disparities in patients with dementia.
Education
- PhD
- Health Services Research Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 2013
- MS
- Health Services Research Policy and Administration School of Public Health, University of Minnesota
- BA
- Economics, School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China, 2006
Research interests
Health care access barriers and financial burdens for vulnerable populations
Select publications
* indicates work with students. § indicates work with post-doctoral trainees.
Xu WY, Song C, Li Y, Brill S, Retchin S. Out-of-Network Care in Commercially Insured Pediatric Patients According to Medical Complexity. Upcoming, Medical Care
Pitcher A,* Xu WY. The Supply of Authorized Providers for Medication-Assisted Treatments in Ohio. Upcoming, Ohio Journal of Public Health.
Goldstein EV,* Xu WY, Seiber EE. Impact of the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion on oral surgery delivery at community health centers: an observational study. BMC Oral Health. 2021 Oct 20;21(1):540.
Xu WY, Retchin S, Buerhaus P. Dual Eligibles and Inadequate Access to Primary Care Providers. American Journal of Managed Care, In Press. May 2021, Volume 27, Issue 5.
Malik AT, § Xie J, Retchin SM, Phillips FM, Xu W, Yu E, Khan SN. Primary single-level lumbar microdisectomy/decompression at a free-standing ambulatory surgical center vs a hospital-owned outpatient department-an analysis of 90-day outcomes and costs. Spine J. 2020 Jun;20(6):882-887.
Bose-Brill S, Prater L, § Goldstein EV, Xu W, Moss KO, Retchin SM, White S. Primary Care Physician and Beneficiary Characteristics Associated With Billing for Advance Care Planning. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2020 May;68(5):1108-1110.
Donneyong MM, Chang TJ, Roth JA, Guilds M, Ankrah D, Najafzadeh M, Xu WY, Chlebowski RT, Margolis K, Manson JE. The Women's Health Initiative Estrogen-alone Trial had differential disease and medical expenditure consequences across age groups. Menopause. 2020 Jun;27(6):632-639.
Xu WY, Song C, Li Y, Retchin S. Cost-sharing Disparities for Out-of-Network Care in Adults with Behavioral Health Conditions. JAMA Network Open. 2019;2(11):e1914554.
Xu WY, Retchin S, Seiber E, Li Y.* Disparities of Health Care Financial Burden under the Affordable Care Act. 2019. Inquiry. 2019 Jan-Dec;56:46958019871815.
Xu WY, Dowd B, Li Y, Donneyong M, Retchin S. Cost-Sharing Payments for Out-of-Network Care in Commercially Insured Adults. 2019. American Journal of Managed Care. 2019;25(12):598-604
Song P, Xu WY, Chisolm D, Alexy E, Ferrari R, Domino M. How Does Being Part of A Pediatric ACO Impact Health Services Use for Children with Disabilities? Health Services Research. 2019; 54(5): 1007-1015.
Malik AT, § Phillips FM, Retchin S, Xu W, Yu E, Kim J, Khan SN. Refining Risk Adjustment for Bundled Payment Models in Cervical Fusions—An Analysis of Medicare Beneficiaries. The Spine Journal. 2019; S1529-9430(19)30804-6.
Xu WY, Wickizer T, Jung K. Effectiveness of Medicare Cost-Sharing Elimination for Cancer Screening on Utilization. BMC Health Services Research, 2019; 19: 392.
Xu WY, Shoostari A,* Jung JK. Disparities in Cost-Related Drug Nonadherence Under the Affordable Care Act. Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research. 2019; 10 (2), 177-185
Chisolm DJ, Gleeson S, Kelleher KJ, Alexy E, Domino M, Xu WY, Song P. Implications of Eligibility Category Churn for Pediatric Payment in Medicaid. American Journal of Managed Care. 2019; 25(3):114-118.
Jung J, Xu W, Kalidindi Y.* Impact of the 340B Drug Pricing Program on Cancer Care Site and Spending in Medicare. Health Services Research. 2018;53(5):3528-3548
Xiang X,* Xu WY, Foraker R. Is Higher Patient Satisfaction Associated with Better Stroke Outcomes? American Journal of Managed Care. 2017;23(10).
Green J, Bolbocean C, Busken K, Gonzalez R, Xu WY. Teaching Economic Evaluation with Population Health Cases. Journal of Health Administration Education. 2017; 34(4): 611-637(27)
Xu WY, Jung K. Socioeconomic Differences in Use of Low-Value Cancer Screenings and Distributional Effects in Medicare. Health Services Research. 2017;52(5):1772-1793.
Jung K, Xu WY, Cheong C. In-Gap Discounts in Medicare Part D and Specialty Drug Use. American Journal of Managed Care. 2017;23(9):553-559.
Song P, Reiter K, Xu WY. High-tech versus High-Touch: Components of Hospital Costs and Vary Widely. Journal of Health Management. 2017;62(3):186-194.
Xu WY, Dowd B, Abraham J. Lessons from State Mandates of Preventive Cancer Screenings. European Journal of Health Economics. 2016; 17(2): 203-215.
Xu WY, Marmor S,* Zeglin J, Abraham J, Knutson D, Virnig B. The Complex Relationship between Quality and Resource Use Cost and Quality of Diabetes Care in the Medicare Fee-for-Service Population. Population Health Management. 2016; 19(1):17-23.
Xu WY, Dowd B. Lessons from Medicare Coverage of Colonoscopy and PSA Test. Medical Care Research Review. 2015; 72 (1): 3-24.
Kralewski J, Dowd B, Xu WY. Medical Groups Can Reduce Costs by Investing in Improved Quality of Care for Patients with Diabetes. Health Affairs. 2012; 31(8):1830-5.
Parente S, Feldman R, Abraham J, Xu Y. Consumer Response to a National Marketplace for Individual Insurance. Journal of Risk and Insurance. 2011. 78 (2), 389–411.
Parente S, Feldman R, Xu Y. Impact of Full Replacement with Consumer Driven Health Plans. Insurance Markets and Companies: Analyses and Actuarial Computations. 2010; 1(1), 4-14.
SELECTED NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE
Health Data for Action Builds Bridge Between Data Owners, Researchers. https://www.hcinnovationgroup.com/analytics-ai/big-data/news/21252401/h…;
“Mental Health Startup Talkiatry Raises $5 Million As Demand For Telepsychiatry Skyrockets”. Forbes. Feb 16, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/debgordon/2021/02/16/mental-health-startup-talkiatry-raises-5-million-as-demand-for-telepsychiatry-skyrockets/?sh=ad9a3b12eb17
“Coronavirus Highlights the Pitfalls of Health Deductibles”. New York Times, March 09, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/upshot/health-cost-sharing-coronavirus.html
“COVID drives up demand for mental healthcare, further crimping access”. Modern Healthcare. June 27, 2020.
“Expert explains whether COVID-19 could be pre-existing condition if ACA is repealed”. ABC-6, Good Day Columbus. November 9, 2020. Video interview. https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/expert-explains-whether-covid-19-could-be-pre-existing-condition-if-aca-is-repealed
“Ohio State Study Finds Out-Of-Network Costs Soaring for Insured Patients”. NPR Audio interview. December 12, 2019. https://radio.wosu.org/post/ohio-state-study-finds-out-network-costs-soaring-insured-patients#stream/0
“Americans spending more out-of-pocket on mental health than physical health”. Reuters. November 8, 2019. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-mental-illness-costs/americans-spending-more-out-of-pocket-on-mental-health-than-physical-health-idUSKBN1XI2EA