Potential adult Medicaid beneficiaries in states that have expanded coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are expected to be generally healthier than current Medicaid beneficiaries, according to a study published in Annals of Family Medicine.
Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers compared demographic and health information of 13.8 million current adult nonelderly Medicaid beneficiaries with information of 13.6 million nonelderly adults potentially eligible for Medicaid under the PPACA.
Potentially eligible adults are expected to have a better current health status, as 34.8 percent self-reported "excellent" or "very good" health, and 40.4 percent reported "good" health. By comparison, 33.5 percent of current beneficiaries reported "excellent" or "very good" health, and 31.6 percent reported "good" health. Potential beneficiaries also have lower rates of obesity (34.5 percent versus 42.9 percent) and depression (15.5 percent versus 22.3 percent) than current beneficiaries.
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