Medicaid Expansion Reduced Unpaid Medical Debt And Increased Financial Satisfaction

As federal lawmakers continue to debate whether to repeal, and perhaps eventually replace, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it is clear that Republican health care proposals would significantly scale back a key feature of the ACA: allowing states to expand Medicaid for adults up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line. This policy decision should be informed by a thorough accounting of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion’s effects. In this post, we present new evidence that the ACA’s Medicaid expansion reduced the share of low-income Americans with unpaid medical debt and improved their satisfaction with their own financial situation. This evidence is important not only for federal lawmakers debating whether to repeal the ACA, but also for state policymakers in non-expansion states who, if the ACA is retained, will have to decide whether to change course and expand Medicaid. What Is Known About The ACA Medicaid Expansion’s Effects To date, several studies compare the experiences of low-income adults in states that chose to expand Medicaid under the ACA with their counterparts in states that declined to expand Medicaid. These studies find that the Medicaid expansion reduced uninsurance for adults with low incomes. The expansion led to increased access to care, and there is some evidence that it improved measures of self-assessed health. These studies indicate that the ACA’s Medicaid expansions have delivered significant benefits to the low-income Americans who live in stat...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Following the ACA Medicaid and CHIP medicaid expansion states medical debt Source Type: blogs