Mortality Rate Lower in States That Expand Medicaid Coverage

State Medicaid expansions covering low-income adults is "significantly associated with reduce mortality" along with improved coverage, access to care and self-reported health, according to a recent New England Journal of Medicine study.

The study pinpointed threes states that have substantially expanded adult Medicaid eligibility since 2000 — Arizona, Maine and New York — and compared them to neighboring states that have not undergone Medicaid expansion. Adults between the ages of 20 and 64 years were observed five years before and five years after the expansions, from 1997 to 2007.

The study concluded that Medicaid expansion was associated with a significant reduction in all-cause mortality in those three states, reducing mortality rates by 6.1 percent in the population receiving new health benefits. Reductions were greatest among older adults, non-whites and residents in poorer counties.

For analysis, researchers made more than 68,000 year- and county-specific observations in the Compressed Mortality File of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More Articles Related to Medicaid:

Georgia Medicaid Lists Hospital "Winners" and "Losers" of Provider Fee
Case Study: How Pennsylvania Hospitals May Fare Without Medicaid Expansion
CBO: Supreme Court Decision to Make Medicaid Expansion Optional Saves $84B

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