The Impacts of Medicaid Expansion on Rural Low-Income Adults: Lessons From the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment

The impact of the Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion in Medicare beneficiaries with peripheral artery disease

Background: In 2014, the Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion (ME) increased Medicaid eligibility for adults with an income level up to 138% of the federal poverty level. In this study, we examined the impact of ME on mortality and amputation in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). Methods: The 100% MedPAR and Part-B Carrier files from 2011 to 2018 were queried to identify all fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with PAD using International Classification of Diseases codes. Our primary exposure was whether a state had adopted the ME on January 1, 2014. Our primary outcomes were the change in all-cause 1-year mortality and leg amputation. We used a state-level difference-in-differences (DID) analysis to compare the rates of the primary outcomes among patients who were in states (including the District of Columbia) who adopted ME (n = 25) versus those who were in states that did not (n = 26). We performed a subanalysis stratifying by sex, race, region, and dual-eligibility status. Results: Over the 8-year period, we studied 37,743,929 patients. The average unadjusted 1-year mortality decreased from 2011 to 2018 in both non-ME (9.5% to 8.7%, p < 0.001) and ME (9.1% to 8.3%, p < 0.001) states. The average unadjusted 1-year amputation rate did not improve in either the non-ME (0.86% to 0.87%, p = 0.17) or ME (0.69% to 0.69%, p = 0.65) states. Across the entire cohort, the DID model revealed that ME did not lead to a significant change in mortality (p = 0.15) or amputation (p = 0.34). Conclusion: Medicaid Expansion was not associated with reduced mortality or leg amputation in Medicare beneficiaries with PAD.

Medicaid expansion and accessibility to healthcare: The Illinois experience

OBJECTIVE

The study examined the impact that the Medicaid expansion in Illinois had upon insurance rates, access to medical care, dental care, pharmaceuticals, and mental-health counseling between rural and urban counties.

DESIGN AND SAMPLE

A serial cross-sectional design was used to assess the health perceptions of adults living in Illinois.

MEASURES

Survey data were collected in 2012 (n = 6,149) before the Medicaid expansion in Illinois and in 2015 (n = 3,532) after the expansion from rural (n = 4) and urban counties (n = 4).

INTERVENTION

Medicaid expansion reduced the uninsured rate in both rural (16.39%-4.87%) and urban counties (17.05%-5.2%) and improved self-reported health. It also increased access to all types of healthcare, with the biggest increase in dental coverage.

RESULTS

Path analysis indicated that the Medicaid expansion β = -1.03 (p < .01) and poor versus not poor β = -1.50 (p < .01) were a significant predictor to no healthcare access. Rural verses urban location was not significant (β = 0.04); however, race/ethnicity was significantly different (p < .01).

CONCLUSION

Findings suggest that although the expansion has increased access to care overall, those who are the most vulnerable are still not benefiting equally from the expansion. Therefore, strategies to assist high-risk adults in enrolling and using their Medicaid coverage need to developed and implemented.

Experiences with Work and Participation in Public Programs by Low-Income Medicaid Enrollees Using Qualitative Interviews

BACKGROUND

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began encouraging governors to implement work requirements for Medicaid enrollees using section 1115 waivers in 2018. Significant controversy surrounds such attempts, but we know little about the perceptions and experiences of enrollees.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize experiences of work and its relationship to participation in Medicaid and other public programs among potential targets of Medicaid work requirements.

DESIGN

In-depth, semi-structured, one-time qualitative interviews.

PARTICIPANTS

35 very low-income, non-disabled Medicaid expansion enrollees participating in a county-sponsored Medicaid managed care plan as a part of a larger study.

APPROACH

We used a biographical narrative interpretive method during interviews including questions about the use of employment and income support and other public programs including from state and federal disability programs. Our team iteratively coded verbatim transcripts allowing for emergent themes.

KEY RESULTS

Interview data revealed high motivation for, and broad participation in, formal and informal paid work. Eight themes emerged: (1) critical poverty (for example, "I'm not content, but what choices do I have?"); (2) behavioral and physical health barriers to work; (3) social barriers: unstable housing, low education, criminal justice involvement; (4) work, pride, and shame; (5) inflexible, unstable work (for example, "Can I have a job that will accommodate my doctor appointments?…Will my therapy have to suffer? You know? So it's a double edged sword."); (6) Medicaid supports the ability to work; (7) lack of transparency and misalignment of program eligibility (for example, "It's not like I don't want to work because I would like to work. It's just that I don't want to be homeless again, right?"); and (8) barriers, confusion, and contradictions about federal disability.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that bipartisan solutions prioritizing the availability of well-paying jobs and planful transitions off of public programs would best serve very low-income, work-capable Medicaid enrollees.

Medicaid Expansion, HIV Testing, and HIV-Related Risk Behaviors in the United States, 2010-2017

Objectives. To examine the relationship between Medicaid expansion under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and both HIV testing and risk behavior among nonelderly adults in the United States.Methods. We pooled 2010 to 2017 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and focused our main analysis on respondents aged between 25 and 64 years from families with incomes below 138% of the federal poverty level. We used the difference-in-difference method and sample-weighted multivariable models to control for individual, state-area-level, and trend factors.Results. Medicaid expansion was associated with a significant 3.22-percentage-point increase in HIV test rates (P < .01) for individuals below 138% of the federal poverty level, with the largest impacts on non-Hispanic Blacks, age groups 35 to 44 years and 55 to 64 years, and rural areas. Expansion was not related to changes in HIV-related risk behavior.Conclusions. Medicaid expansion promoted HIV testing without increasing HIV risk behavior, but there were large disparities across race/ethnicity, age, and geographic area types.Public Health Implications. Nonexpansion states, mostly in the South, might have missed an opportunity to increase HIV test rates, which could have serious future health and financial consequences.