Laura Barrie Smith is a senior research associate in the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Her research studies the impacts of health care policies on access to health care using quasi-experimental research designs and large datasets, such as electronic health records and health insurance claims. Her current work examines health equity in Medicaid, with a particular focus on children and pregnant and postpartum populations, and evaluates the effects of integrated care plans for individuals dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. Other recent and ongoing work examines variation in telehealth use across populations, transportation and access to care, extreme climate events and acute health care use, and health information technology incentive programs in Medicaid.

Before joining Urban, Smith worked at the Lewin Group, where she evaluated a bundled payments initiative in Medicare. Smith holds a BA in mathematics from St. Olaf College and a PhD in health services research, with an emphasis in health economics, from the University of Minnesota.