Are you curious what the research says about the benefits of expanding the Medicaid health insurance program? Well, you’re in luck! We have the studies to back up the efforts. Let’s start with the basics:
- Medicaid produces economic benefits for both the individuals it covers and the states that implement it.
- Medicaid is responsive to economic downturns, enabling people to access coverage and care in times of financial stress
- Of all types of health insurance, research shows Medicaid is the most successful in reducing poverty rates, especially for women.
- Medicaid coverage at different points during the lifespan has been tied to economic mobility across generations and higher educational attainment, income, and taxes paid.
But what else do we know?
First off, the Wyoming Department of Health tells us that working women under 35 will comprise the majority of new enrollees if were Wyoming to expand Medicaid. So this list includes links to studies focused on the benefits to women–and pregnant women and post-partum moms, specifically. There are certainly ample studies demonstrating the benefits in other areas: job creation, budget savings, mental health benefits, etc. associated with expanding the Medicaid health insurance program. We’ll save those for another post.
From the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities:
“The evidence is clear: Medicaid expansion has increased coverage and improved access to care, including postpartum care, for millions of women. Expansion has also reduced individuals’ medical debt and providers’ uncompensated care costs while averting thousands of premature deaths. But 12 states still haven’t adopted the expansion while two others have yet to implement it, leaving millions of people uninsured, even during COVID-19.”
From Kaiser Family Foundation: The Effects of Medicaid Expansion under the ACA: Updated Findings from a Literature Review
“This issue brief summarizes findings from 404 studies (including 80 newly included since the last update of this analysis) of the impact of state Medicaid expansions under the ACA published beginning in January 2014 (when the coverage provisions of the ACA went into effect) and updates earlier versions of this brief with studies through January 2020.1
Analyses find effects of expansion on numerous economic outcomes, including state budget savings, revenue gains, and overall economic growth. Multiple studies suggest that expansion can result in state savings by offsetting state costs in other areas.”
Medicaid’s Role for Women “In the states that have not expanded Medicaid coverage under the ACA, many women lose their Medicaid eligibly 60 days post-partum because they no longer qualify for coverage, even though their infants are Medicaid eligible for their first year.”
Effects Of Medicaid Expansion On Postpartum Coverage And Outpatient Utilization “Timely postpartum care is associated with lower maternal morbidity and mortality, yet fewer than half of Medicaid beneficiaries attend a postpartum visit. Medicaid enrollees are at higher risk of postpartum disruptions in insurance because pregnancy-related Medicaid eligibility ends sixty days after delivery.”
Medicaid Expansion Improves Postpartum Coverage, Access to Care
“Medicaid financed 43 percent of all births nationwide in 2018, but pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage ends 60 days after childbirth. Postpartum health coverage is particularly important because life-threatening conditions during and after pregnancy are distressingly common in the United States.”
Work Among Medicaid Adults: Implications of Economic Downturn and Work Requirements Understanding The Relationship Between Medicaid Expansions And Hospital Closures “We found that the ACA’s Medicaid expansion was associated with improved hospital financial performance and substantially lower likelihoods of closure, especially in rural markets and counties with large numbers of uninsured adults before Medicaid expansion.”
Association of the Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion With Access to and Quality of Care for Surgical Conditions “Medicaid expansion was associated with a 7.5–percentage point increase in insurance coverage at the time of hospital admission. The policy was also associated with patients obtaining care earlier in their disease course and with an increased probability of receiving optimal care for those conditions.”
Residents suffer as Mississippi and 13 other states debate Medicaid expansion “A review by NBC News of the Medicaid budgets for all 14 states that refused expansion showed their expenses increased drastically after 2012 — despite state lawmakers’ objections that accepting expansion would cost too much.”
The Atlantic: Medicaid Saves Lives “Opt-in states experienced a 9.3 percent reduction in the mortality rate among near-elderly adults of lower socioeconomic status, adding up to thousands of lives saved. Opt-out states, accordingly, experienced thousands of avoidable deaths.”
