Wendy Yi Xu, PhD

Associate Professor; Joint Appointment, College of Public Affairs

Health Services Management and Policy

Wendy Xu

Contact

Cunz Hall 208
1841 Neil Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43210
Email: xu.1636@osu.edu
Phone: 614-292-0662

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.