Gibbs Leadership Prize: Best Manuscript of 2018 in Women's Health Issues


May 2, 2019

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The Editorial Board of Women’s Health Issues is pleased to announce that the Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize for the best paper published in Women's Health Issues in 2018 (Volume 28) has been awarded to Emily M. Johnston, PhD. Johnston was a doctoral candidate at Emory University when conducting the study, and is now a Research Associate at the Urban Institute. Her manuscript, “Impacts of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid Expansion on Women of Reproductive Age: Differences by Parental Status and State Policies,” was co-authored by Andrea E. Strahan, PhD; Peter Joski, MSPH; Anne L. Dunlop, MD, MPH; and E. Kathleen Adams, PhD. It was published in Women’s Health Issues Volume 28, Issue 2 (March/April 2018).

The study examined impacts of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion on non-pregnant women aged 19–44 with household incomes below the federal poverty level (FPL) with 2012–2015 data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The authors used data from 30 states that either expanded Medicaid eligibility starting on January 1, 2014 or had not expanded Medicaid by the end of 2015 to allow for two-year periods of pre- and post-expansion data.

Johnston and her colleagues found that the ACA’s Medicaid expansions reduced uninsurance for low-income women of childbearing age by 13 percentage points, with a drop of 27 percentage points for those without dependent children. Reductions in uninsurance were greatest – 19 percentage points – in states that expanded Medicaid after having limited eligibility to those with incomes below 50% FPL, as opposed to 14 percentage points in the states whose cutoffs had been at or above 50% FPL. The authors also found that women without dependent children were 13 percentage points less likely to report not having a personal doctor in the post-expansion period.

“The Editorial Board congratulates Emily Johnston and her colleagues for conducting a methodologically strong study on the impact of Medicaid expansions on women of reproductive age, an important and timely policy topic,” said Amita Vyas, Editor-in-Chief of Women’s Health Issues. “As more states consider whether to adopt the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, studies such as this one can help inform their decisions.”

The Editorial Board also designated two 2018 manuscripts to receive “Honorable Mention” recognition:

The Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize is awarded annually to recognize excellence in research on women’s health care or policy. Priority is given to manuscripts that report the results of original research and that improve understanding of an important women’s health issue. Members of the staff and Editorial Board of Women’s Health Issues are not eligible.

Previous winners of the Gibbs Prize include:

Soumitra S. Bhuyan, PhD, MPH (2017)
Maeve Ellen Wallace, PhD (2017)
Aimee Kroll-Desrosiers, MS (2016)
Miao Jiang, PhD (2015)
Hailee K. Dunn, MPH (2014)
Cynthia LeardMann, MPH (2013)
Nathan L. Hale, PhD (2012)
Jacqueline L. Angel, PhD (2011)
Diana Greene Foster, PhD (2010)
Paula Lantz, PhD (2009)
Sherry Glied, PhD (2008)
Richard C. Lindrooth, PhD (2007)
Joan S. Tucker, PhD (2006)
JiWon R. Lee, MS, RD, MPH (2005)
Dawn M. Upchurch, PhD (2004)
Sherry L. Grace, PhD (2003)
Sarah Hudson Scholle, DrPH (2002)
Sandra K. Pope, PhD (2001)
Ilene Hyman, PhD (2000)
Usha Sambamaoorthi, PhD (1999)
Claire Murphy, MD (1997)
Barbara A. Bartman, MD, MPH (1996)

Women’s Health Issues is the official journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, which is based in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University.

The Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize was established to honor the founding President of the Board of Governors of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Charles E. Gibbs, MD (1923–2000) was a Fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and past chair of ACOG’s Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women, the Task Force on the Voluntary Review of Quality of Care, the Health Care Commission, and the Task Force on Maternal Health Policy. Dr. Gibbs served on the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health Board of Governors from 1990–1999 and was instrumental in shaping the Institute’s mission and structure.