A National Survey of Trends in Health Insurance Coverage of Low-Income Adults Following Medicaid Expansion

Excerpt

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was designed to expand access to health insurance. The Medicaid expansion provision of the ACA has a potential to narrow gaps in insurance coverage of low-income adults through income-based eligibility rules that eliminate traditional categorical Medicaid eligibility criteria. Substantial gains in insurance coverage for low-income adults in expansion states have been previously reported during the first¹ and second² years following Medicaid expansion in 2014. As states weigh whether to expand Medicaid benefits under the ACA and Congress considers building upon or replacing the ACA, it is helpful to evaluate how the association between residence in a Medicaid expansion state and health insurance coverage for low-income adults has developed over subsequent years. The objective of this report is to evaluate the effects of the ACA Medicaid expansion on insurance coverage of low-income adults by comparing trends in their insurance coverage in expansion and non-expansion states before (2008–2013) and after (2014–17) the expansion. …