State Medicaid Expansion Improves Health Care Access

Low-income U.S. residents who are living in Medicaid expansion states were found to have health insurance and also receive a routine check-up than the low-income residents of non-expansion states, reveals a new study.

While state Medicaid expansion has positively impacted access to health care for low-income Americans, in states that decided not to expand Medicaid coverage, very low-income residents have been disproportionately negatively affected, according to the study published in Population Health Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

‘Medicaid expansion in states give low-income U.S. residents the access to health care and promotes the health of the population.’

The article entitled "The Effects of State Medicaid Expansion on Low-Income Individuals' Access to Health Care: Multilevel Modeling" presents the results obtained from analyzing a nationally representative sample of more than a half million adults from 50 states and Washington, DC.

Coauthors Sunha Choi, PhD, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Sungkyu Lee, PhD, Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea, and Jason Matejkowski, PhD, University of Kansas, Lawrence, showed that not only were the residents of Medicaid expansion states more likely to have health insurance, but they were also significantly more likely to have a usual source of care and were less likely to avoid visiting a doctor because of cost.

"Given the current political environment and proposed deep cuts in Medicaid, this work emphasizes how vital access to care is for this population. Medicaid coverage promotes the health of the population," says David Nash, MD, MBA, Editor-in-Chief of Population Health Management and Dean and Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor, Jefferson College of Population Health, Philadelphia, PA.

Source: Eurekalert

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