What is the relationship between Medicaid disenrollment due to welfare reform and the increase in hospitalizations for ambulatory case sensitive (ACS) conditions in New York City? The researchers at Montefiore Medical Center posited that access to primary care could decrease the need for in-patient hospitalizations for certain ACS conditions, and that the increase in these hospitalizations is correlated with lack of primary care access due to welfare reform-induced Medicaid disenrollment. The researchers 1) measured the rate of ACS discharges for selected conditions; and 2) quantified the cost of ACS hospitalizations that can be linked to Medicaid disenrollment, to estimate the cost of welfare reform to the city. Their goal was to inform policymakers on the health and economic consequences of Medicaid disenrollment.