Naomi Zewde

Naomi Zewde is a scholar of public policy. She studies how public institutions can deliver health, medical care, and economic security across the economic distribution, and how we can directly compress the distribution. This includes comparing the Affordable Care Act’s public versus private coverage for households’ finances and healthcare access; evaluating the ability of Medicaid expansion to reduce the likelihood of poverty and home eviction; and the ability of basic income or federally funded trust funds (termed “Baby Bonds”) to reduce income and wealth inequality, especially for young Black adults. Her ongoing research examines private-insurance contracting in the Medicaid program, asking whether it saves money or improves health and how these outcomes affect the policy decision to privatize. Her work has been featured in academic outlets including the Journal of Risk and Insurance, Health Affairs, and the Review of Black Political Economy, and featured in popular press outlets like Ms. Magazine, the New York Times, and PBS Newshour.


 

 

  • Selected Publications

    Zewde N. Did Marketplace coverage really offer financial protection? Financial gains from the Affordable Care Act’s private insurance policies among the previously uninsured. Journal of Risk and Insurance. 2021;88(2):413-427. doi:10.1111/jori.12325

    Zewde N. Universal Baby Bonds Reduce Black-White Wealth Inequality, Progressively Raise Net Worth of All Young Adults. The Review of Black Political Economy. 2020;47(1):3-19. doi:10.1177/0034644619885321

    Zewde N, Eliason E, Allen H, Gross T. The Effects of the ACA Medicaid Expansion on Nationwide Home Evictions and Eviction-Court Initiations: United States, 2000–2016. Am J Public Health. 2019;109

    Zewde N, Wimer C. Antipoverty Impact Of Medicaid Growing With State Expansions Over Time. Health Affairs. 2019;38(1):132-138. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05155