Louise Palmer is a Research Associate with The Urban Institute's Health Policy Center who conducts program evaluation and policy research. Her research interests include analyzing disparities in health status, access to care, and service utilization, particularly in the area of maternal and child health. Current policy research projects include analyzing the impact of health insurance programs on access to and use of health services for low-income children.

Ms. Palmer is also evaluating several different community-based health outreach and access initiatives throughout the U.S, which target underserved families and children. Ms. Palmer conducts research using a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including in-depth interviewing, facilitating focus group discussions, conducting comprehensive site visits, and statistical analysis of a wide range of data including longitudinal surveys.