Expanded Medicare Coverage Is Associated with Greater Healthcare Utilization

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that individual states could decide whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). When the ACA took effect in 2014, 26 states and the District of Columbia expanded their Medicaid programs. But the effects of Medicaid expansion on access to care, healthcare utilization, and health outcomes are largely unknown.

Researchers analyzed self-reported data from more than 40,000 low-income adults (age, <65) who were interviewed for an ongoing, government-conducted health survey between 2010 and 2014. In a comparison of changes that occurred after ACA implementation, respondents in states that expanded Medicaid coverage (compared with those in states that did not) were significantly more likely t…