New Study Shows Medicaid Expansion Associated With Increase in Palliative Care for Patients With Advanced Cancers

More people with advanced cancers in the United States received critical palliative care services, according to new findings by researchers at the American Cancer Society. Medicaid expansion under the ACA was associated with the largest increases in palliative care use.

Health insurance changes are coming – don’t get caught without coverage

Now that the pandemic has eased up, and jobs are easier to find, an emergency order regarding Medicaid and CHIP enrollment will end on March 31, 2023. Some people are calling it an “unwinding.” This means that everyone in these programs will have to prove they are still eligible for their coverage if they want to keep it.

Even small bills for health insurance may cause healthy low-income people to drop coverage

Twenty dollars a month might not seem like a lot to pay for health insurance. But for people getting by on $15,000 a year, it’s enough to make some drop their coverage – especially if they’re healthy. That could keep them from getting preventive or timely care, and could leave their insurance company with a sicker pool of patients than before.

Medication Access for Opioid Use Disorder Lower Among Those Involved with Criminal Justice System

Among people with opioid use disorder (OUD), more than half have reported contact with the criminal justice system. A new study published today in Health Affairs reveals that Medicaid expansion is associated with substantial improvements in access to medications for OUD. However, the study also reveals that individuals referred for treatment by the criminal justice system were substantially less likely to receive medications for OUD as part of the treatment plan.

April 2021 Issue of AJPH highlights COVID-19 as it relates to unemployment and excess deaths in Florida, Medicaid expansion, and misinformation spread by crowdfunding campaigns

April 2021 highlights from AJPH Issue includes COVID-19-related articles around deaths linked to unemployment, higher than reported death toll in Florida and crowdfunding campaigns spreading misinformation

Correlations identified between insurance coverage and states’ voting patterns

Cleveland – Researchers at Case Western Reserve University reviewed national data from the U.S. Census Bureau and found associations between states’ voting patterns in the 2016 presidential elections and decreases in the number of adults 18 to 64 years of age without health insurance coverage.

Medicaid expansion meant better health for the most vulnerable low-income adults, study finds

The most vulnerable residents of Michigan say their health improved significantly after they enrolled in the state’s expanded Medicaid program, a new study finds. Those with extremely low incomes or multiple chronic health problems, and those who are Black, got the biggest health boosts. But participants of all backgrounds reported improvements.

Affordable Care Act helped make health insurance access more equal, but racial and ethnic gaps remain

As the Affordable Care Act turns 10, a new study shows it has narrowed racial and ethnic gaps in access to health insurance – but definitely not eliminated them.
Both the percentage of people 19-64 who lacked health insurance, and the size of the health insurance gap between white, African-American and Hispanic Americans, shrank. From 2013 to 2017, the gap between blacks and whites narrowed 45%, and the difference between Hispanics and whites narrowed 35%.

Investigating Medicaid Expansion’s Association With Insurance Status, Diagnosis, Treatment Among Patients With Cancer

Investigating Medicaid Expansion’s Association With Insurance Status, Diagnosis, Treatment Among Patients With Cancer JAMA Network OpenOriginal Investigation Association of Medicaid Expansion Under the Affordable Care Act With Insurance Status, Cancer Stage, and Timely Treatment Among Patients With Breast, Colon, and…

Jump in Employment Seen Among Medicaid Expansion Enrollees, Especially the Most Vulnerable

Getting covered by health insurance may have a major impact on a low-income person’s ability to get a job or enroll in school, according to a new study.
The percentage of low-income people enrolled in Michigan’s Medicaid expansion program who had jobs or were enrolled in school jumped six points in one year, while employment rates in the state remained flat.

Medicaid expansion doubled access to primary care, increased attention to health risks in Michigan enrollees

When Michigan expanded its Medicaid program to cover more low-income residents, its leaders built in special features to encourage enrollees to understand their health risks, and incentivize them to prevent future health problems, or find them early. According to two new studies, that effort has paid off.

Expanding Medicaid means chronic health problems get found & health improves, study finds

Nearly one in three low-income people who enrolled in Michigan’s expanded Medicaid program discovered they had a chronic illness that had never been diagnosed before, according to a new study.
And whether it was a newly found condition or one they’d known about before, half of Medicaid expansion enrollees with chronic conditions said their overall health improved after one year of coverage or more.