Low-income patients report better care and health after ACA passage, study finds
Source: ABC News, by Gillian Mohney and Dr. Crystal Tan
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A new study published today (5/17/17) in Health Affairs shows that the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion not only increased insurance coverage rates but also improved access and affordability among low-income patients over the last three years. The study's findings come out at a critical time as the Senate works on passing its version of the AHCA, which could change Medicaid, insurance premiums and a number of other aspects of the healthcare system.
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The researchers collected responses from low-income people in three states: Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid; Arkansas, which expanded private insurance in the federal Marketplace; and Texas, which opted for no expansion.
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All three states included in this study had similar rates of uninsurance – around 40 percent – before the ACA. By 2016 the uninsurance rate dropped to 7.4 percent in Kentucky and 11.7 percent in Arkansas while plateauing at 28.2 percent in Texas.
Cost and quality of care also improved Kentucky and Arkansas, where patients were 41 percent more likely to have a regular source of care, spent $337 less out of pocket annually, and were nearly 23 percent more likely to rate themselves as being in “excellent” health.
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Read it all at: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/low-income-patients-report-care-health-aca-passage/story?id=47460906
