Managed care plans purport to improve the health of their members with chronic diseases. How has the growing adoption of Medicare Advantage (MA), the managed care program for Medicare beneficiaries, affected the progression of chronic disease? The literature is rich with articles focusing on managed care organizations' impacts on quality of care, access, patient satisfaction, and costs. However, few studies have analyzed these impacts with respect to market penetration of Medicare managed care. The objective of this research has been to analyze the relationships between the market penetration of MA plans and the progression of chronic diseases among Medicare beneficiaries. The Chronic Disease Severity Index scale (CDSI) was constructed to represent beneficiaries' overall chronic disease states for survey or claims-based data, when more direct clinical measures of disease progression are not available. Using the CDSI on the MEPS survey dataset from AHRQ, we sought to assess the impacts of MA market penetration and other covariates on the overall chronic disease state of Medicare beneficiaries from 2004 through 2008. Though the model explains much of the variation in CDSI change, the author expected the multilevel model would show that MA penetration explains a significant level of variation in CDSI change. However, this hypothesis was not substantiated, and the findings suggest that unmeasured factors may be contributing to additional unexplained heterogeneity. Policymakers should explore opportunities to refine the current MA program. The MA program costs the federal government more than the Traditional Fee-for-Service Medicare program, and there is no definitive evidence that outcomes differ. Within both programs, there is opportunity to experiment with different models of payment, healthcare service delivery and care coordination. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains provisions for innovative demonstration projects in delivery and payment. The effectiveness of these ACA initiatives must be monitored, both for impacts on health outcomes and for economic effects. This research can inform future approaches to outcomes assessment using the CDSI, and multilevel modeling methodologies similar to those employed here. Firms offering MA health plans would be prudent to proactively demonstrate their value to beneficiaries and taxpayers. They should explore means of better monitoring and reporting the longitudinal outcomes of their enrolled beneficiaries. Demonstrating that they can bring value in terms of improved health outcomes will help insure their long-term survival, both in the marketplace and in the political arena. / Graduation date: 2012

美國前總統歐巴馬於2010年簽署之法案「病人保護暨可負擔醫療法」（Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA）又稱「歐巴馬醫療法」（Obamacare），主要目的之一在於提升對人民醫療照顧的保障，擴大人民的醫療照顧覆蓋面，並讓醫療保險成為可負擔的，具體改革面向主要在公共醫療照顧的範圍擴大、對人民強制納保規定，與對於商業醫療保險之各種規制，而從歐巴馬醫療法內容中，得以探討美國如何在維持既有醫療照顧體系架構、商業醫療保險為主導的模式中，透過對商業醫療保險的規制來成就相當於社會保險所實現的社會安全，並與我國作比較，雖然主要採取之醫療照顧模式不同，但同樣在促成全民納保的社會國目的之達成，兩國背後的立法背景、操作上有何異同，以及會遇到之爭議與困境何在，並且進一步思考是否有讓我國在處理目前制度問題的值得參考之處。 本文先論述美國傳統對於醫療照顧的心態與背景，並介紹美國的醫療照顧制度與衍生的問題，並從中了解醫療照顧之相關權利、全民納保觀念在美國的發展狀況，接著介紹歐巴馬醫療法的發展過程與實際內容，聚焦在擴大醫療照顧覆蓋面與令醫療保險成為可負擔之相關規定，並了解幾個重要的聯邦最高法院對歐巴馬醫療法之違憲審查判決中對爭議的處理，之後觀察歐巴馬醫療法如何透過對商業醫療保險的規制來讓其能成就社會安全功能，並追蹤後續歐巴馬醫療法實施後之成效與未來可能變化。對照我國，在介紹我國全民健康保險之發展與內容後，比較兩國在促成全民納保的背景、立法與釋憲過程中的爭議為何且如何處理、全民納保的操作內容，以及醫療照顧相關權利的承認與否、商業醫療保險的角色等，也從中討論是否有我國在解決現今全民健保之問題上可參考之面向。

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The Catholic Church is widely known for its opposition to birth control. Yet statistics show that the vast majority of American Catholics use birth control. While multiple studies have been conducted on a larger quantitative scale about the use or attitudes of American Catholics toward birth control, there have not been qualitative studies to understand the experiences of Catholics who use contraception. This study is particularly timely given the recent Catholic opposition to the Affordable Care Act’s mandate of employee healthcare provided birth control as well as, the extraordinary synod of bishops to discuss pastoral challenges to family life in October 2015. Fourteen married Catholic women were interviewed about their religious identities and experiences using contraception. Analysis demonstrated how these women constructed a religious identity by maximizing certain aspects, such as prayer and service, while minimizing other aspects, such as individual autonomy and denominational distinctions, of their religious identity. However in order to cope with the tension between their salient religious identity and their contraceptive decision making women utilizing multiple mechanisms. Specifically, they made boundaries around which types of contraception were acceptable and limits to church or individual authority; they justified their decisions based on medical necessity or betrayal they felt from the church; they legitimated their decisions by discussing God’s control and their husband’s perceptions of NFP; and they normalized their decisions through their desire to care for their children and be sexually intimate with their husbands. This research illuminates unique challenges that religious women face in their sexual decision making and sexual health practices that can help sex educators and health care providers care for women. Additionally, the Catholic Church and American Catholics make up huge forces in education, health care, charity, politics, and employment. However, not all Catholics follow the rules of the church. Those members who remain an active part of the Catholic Church, such as the practicing Catholics in this study can influence the way the church changes. By better understanding the experience of these dissenters, social researchers may be able to better understand the future of the Catholic Church.