An estimated 12 million people have signed up for health insurance this year because of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to Dennis Dunn, PhD, a senior scientist at Truven Health Analytics.
That figure includes people who have enrolled in health plans through the health insurance exchanges and those who have signed up for Medicaid. At the Becker's Hospital Review 5th Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 15, Dr. Dunn and Linda McCracken, vice president of advisory services at Truven, discussed the newly insured population and what healthcare providers can expect.
Truven has been looking at the impact of the newly insured for the past four years. Now, they have a considerable amount of new information on those who gained insurance under the PPACA. "There's so much interesting new data showing what's happening in healthcare," Ms. McCracken said.
Here are four key characteristics of the newly insured population, according to Ms. McCracken and Dr. Dunn.
1. Most of them have gained coverage through the exchanges. More than 8 million of the people who have gained coverage under the PPACA so far signed up for exchange plans. "The real message here is how much more important the exchange enrollment is than Medicaid enrollment," Dr. Dunn said.
2. The impact of the newly insured varies considerably by state. Depending on whether they expand Medicaid, the number of residents living in poverty, their base uninsured rates and other factors, the number of newly insured people per state varies widely, according to Dr. Dunn. For instance, California reached 190 percent of its expected exchange enrollment, while other states such as Texas have had consistently low numbers. "There are going to be some states that will see a very profound effect from healthcare reform," Dr. Dunn said. "Other states are not going to see much change at all. Everything about the effect of healthcare reform is very, very local."
3. Their medical service utilization rate is likely to go up now that they have insurance. Looking at the group of individuals most likely to enroll in exchange plans (uninsured with incomes between 138 percent and 400 percent of the poverty level), Dr. Dunn said "their visit rate is likely to go up. Not quite double, but go up substantially."
4. Newly eligible Medicaid patients are generally healthier than the pre-expansion Medicaid population. According to Truven, for instance, people who now qualify for Medicaid coverage through expansion have lower blood glucose and have lower levels of chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and respiratory disease. "The big takeaway here is, in some respects, the new Medicaid population is healthier with lower risk factors," Dr. Dunn said.
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5 Key Findings on Medicaid Expansion, Community Health Center Patients
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4 Key Findings on the PPACA and Medicaid Enrollment