JAMA Internal Medicine published a study finding states that expanded Medicaid insurance to residents below a certain income threshold appeared to be healthier than residents in states that did not expand Medicaid, according to The New York Times.
In the study, researchers compared Medicaid-expansion states, Arkansas and Kentucky, to residents in Texas, which did not expand Medicaid. Investigators conducted a telephone survey of the three states' low income residents.
Here are five insights:
1. Arkansas and Kentucky residents were almost 5 percent more likely than Texas residents to report excellent health last year.
2. Residents in expansion states were more likely to have a physician and a facility to obtain care than nonexpansion state residents.
3. Medicaid-expansion state residents were more likely to have chronic disease treatment and receive high cholesterol or high blood sugar screening.
4. Kentucky and Arkansas residents were less likely than Texas residents to delay care or avoid taking prescriptions out of cost concerns. Residents were also less likely to face challenges paying a medical bill, compared to Texas respondents.
5. Researchers say their research is limited in that there are differences between the three states. Kentucky expanded Medicaid in a more conventional way than its Arkansas counterpart. However, researchers noted marginal differences between Kentucky's conventional and Arkansas' innovative approach.
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