Ziller Earns Doctorate

Congratulations and a round of applause to Erika Ziller for successfully defending her doctoral dissertation on July 19, 2012! She has met all the requirements for her doctorate in public policy, and can now officially be introduced as Dr. Ziller. Her dissertation topic follows two issues near and dear to her: children and health insurance coverage, and is entitled, Health Insurance Stability among Rural Children Following Public Coverage Expansions. Her study investigates the relationship between rural residence, CHIP implementation, and stability of health insurance coverage among children, particularly those living in lower income families.

Ziller compared point-in-time health insurance coverage rates for low-income rural and urban children before CHIP, early in its implementation, and after the program had reached maturity. She also compared rural-urban differences in health insurance stability, and whether the stability of coverage changed following implementation of CHIP. For more information on this study, please contact Dr. Ziller.