Emily Johnston is a principal research associate in the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where she studies health insurance coverage, access to care, Medicaid, reproductive health, and maternal and infant health. Her research focuses on the effects of state and federal policies on the health and well-being of women and families.
Her current work includes leading projects investigating postpartum health insurance coverage and estimating the impacts of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansions on fertility and young adult health. Prior work includes a multiyear mixed-methods analysis of women’s experiences with family planning, pregnancy, and reproductive health care access and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation evaluation of the Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative, a program providing enhanced prenatal care services to pregnant women in the Medicaid program. Before joining Urban, she was a fellow in the Office of the Associate Director for Policy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she contributed to projects related to the Affordable Care Act.
Johnston holds a PhD in health services research and health policy from Emory University.