Expanding Medicaid, by Any Means, Improves Access to Care
<p>A new Commonwealth Fund–supported study published in <em>Health Affairs</em> finds that in states that expanded Medicaid coverage, either by traditional means or through the so-called private option, low-income adults are better able to get insurance coverage, afford needed health services, and obtain regular care for chronic conditions.</p><p>According to researchers Benjamin D. Sommers, M.D., Robert J. Blendon, and E. John Orav, in Kentucky and Arkansas, which both expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, the proportion of people who reported they struggled to pay medical bills or were unable to fill a prescription because of the cost fell significantly more than in Texas, which did not expand Medicaid. And the proportion of residents not able to fill a prescription because of the cost fell nearly 10 points more in the two expansion states between 2013 and 2014.</p>
<p>The study’s results “suggest that deciding whether or not to expand matters much more than deciding how to expand,” the authors say.</p>