Alumni/ae Spotlight

Debra A. Draper (Ph.D. ‘00, MSHA ‘96)

Debra (Debbie) Draper is a Senior Health Researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) in the Washington, DC office. Debbie’s current work focuses on market studies of health system change, Medicare+Choice, Medicaid managed care, and mental health care organization and financing issues. She currently works on projects funded by The Center for Studying Health System Change, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The California Health Care Foundation, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Debbie joined MPR as a policy researcher in January 1999. In July 2002, she was promoted to the position of senior policy researcher. Prior to joining MPR, Debbie completed her doctoral studies in health services organization and research from VCU’s Department of Health Administration where she wrote her dissertation on the determinants influencing the entry of HMOs into Medicaid managed care. While in the doctoral program, she served as a research assistant to Bob Hurley. Debbie is also a graduate of the Department’s Professional Master’s Degree Program in Health Administration. In addition, she is a certified public accountant and has 12 years operational experience in the fiscal and administrative management of psychiatric hospitals and outpatient centers.

Debbie has written and published a number of reports and articles on a variety of topics including managed care, Medicaid managed care, Medicare+Choice, managed behavioral health care, and employer-sponsored health insurance. She has also made numerous presentations on these issues to diverse audiences.

About Mathematica:

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., is known for its high-quality, objective research to support decisions about our nation’s most pressing social policy problems. The firm has conducted some of the most important studies of health care, welfare, education, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs in the United States. Its research, which crisscrosses the human life span from children’s health and welfare to long-term care for elderly people, provides a sound foundation for decisions that affect the well-being of Americans.

For over three decades, the company has offered policymakers a unique combination of evaluation expertise, direct data collection services, and insight into the socioeconomic issues that drive public policy. Its clients include federal agencies, state and local governments, foundations, universities, professional associations, and businesses.

The U.S. health care system is changing, and Mathematica is in the forefront of evaluating the consequences of this change. For example, more and more people are being covered by managed care organizations, which are becoming more varied in ownership and structure. Mathematica is looking at new ways of paying for and managing Medicare beneficiaries' care. We are monitoring the Medicare+Choice program to provide insights on the insurance decisions of Medicare beneficiaries, the effects of changes on markets, and trends in premiums and benefits. We are also examining shifts driven by huge expansions in Medicaid managed care, including an evaluation of five state demonstrations.

Some of our other studies are assessing how managed care affects people with disabilities, as well as mental health and substance abuse problems. We have also analyzed the costs and effects of parity mandates for mental health and substance abuse services.We have also evaluated new models of managed care for the frail elderly, including Social Health Maintenance Organizations, and new payment models, including the home health prospective payment demonstration.

In other areas, we created a research-quality database on dual eligibles—people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. In the arena of consumer-directed care, we are studying a program in which frail elderly and disabled Medicaid enrollees receive a monthly cash allowance to purchase personal assistance services and related goods.

Meanwhile, many Americans have no health insurance. In rural America and low-income urban areas, people often have problems with access to care. We are studying how the health care system serves these individuals and whether Medicaid managed care increases the supply of primary care in these areas. We are also looking at programs such as Healthy Start for vulnerable pregnant women, infants, and children and the health care needs of foster care children enrolled in Medicaid. To help state and federal officials address the problem of uninsured children and adults, we are evaluating the SCHIP program and the Covering Kids and Families initiative. We are also conducting a five-year evaluation of abstinence education programs.

Our studies span the changes taking place in the health care system and include short-term policy projects as well as longer-term evaluations. Most of our evaluations also include a cost-effectiveness analysis. Many studies are based on surveys of health care consumers, providers, and purchasers. We also conduct surveys on health insurance and access for states, develop analytic files from large claims databases, help policymakers use data more effectively, and project the size of the verterans population to help the government assess impacts and adjust services accordingly.

The company has two operating divisions -- Research and Survey and Information Services – and offices in Princeton, NJ, Washington, DC, Cambridge, MA, and Columbia, MD.