Brittney Seidemann is a second-year Health Management and Policy Master’s student at San Diego State University. She received her Bachelor’s in Public Health at California State University Fullerton in May of 2020. Brittney started her undergraduate studies as a pre-med student with the hopes of going on to medical school. She soon found out that her love of Public Health outweighed her interest in medical school. Public Health showed her that medicine is not the only way to help, and instilled core values that she has taken with her to this day. Before Brittney started her last year of undergrad, she decided to pursue the Public Health side of the healthcare system. She knew that a Master of Public Health in Health Management and Policy was the perfect way to go since it combined the two areas she knew best, Public Health and healthcare.
Brittney is the Dean’s Award recipient at this year’s Student Research Symposium. She presented a poster presentation displaying the research she is doing for her manuscript under the supervision of Dr. Lipton. Brittney’s research is titled “Aging Out of Dependent Coverage and Health Insurance Trends,” focusing on individuals aging out of their parent’s health insurance at age 26. The Affordable Care Act’s expansion of dependent coverage saw large coverage gains among 19-25-year-olds. There are an abundance of studies examining 19-25-year-olds and the impact the expansion had but Brittney found a lack of studies focusing on individuals aging out of dependent coverage at the age of 26. Britney examined the effects of aging out at 26 during 3 different time periods, 1) 2008-2009, before the expansion of dependent coverage, 2) 2011-2013, after dependent coverage expansion but before the Medicaid and Marketplace expansions, and 3) 2014-2019, after the Medicaid and Marketplace expansions. She found that after the implementation of dependent coverage there is a drop in private insurance and employer-sponsored insurance at age 26, and an increase in the uninsured. Brittney also saw a smaller increase in the uninsured during 2014-2019 due to Medicaid and Marketplace expansions offering more coverage options for 26-year-olds.
Brittney started working with Dr. Lipton, her faculty advisor, during her first year in the program. Throughout her research, Brittney has grown to love health policy, and has been fortunate enough to work on several projects with Dr. Lipton. Brittney would like to thank Dr. Lipton for giving her so much support and encouragement over the past two years and to help spark her passion for health policy.