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Who Stands to Gain?
Analysis Highlights Adults Who Could Gain Coverage Under ACA’s Medicaid Expansion
A new state-specific analysis finds that the approximately 15 million uninsured adults who could gain coverage under the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion are a diverse group in terms of age, race, and ethnicity.
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and prepared by researchers at the Urban Institute, the report examines the characteristics of uninsured nonelderly adults who could be newly-eligible for Medicaid, and finds that:
- Though over half are under age 35 (7.8 million), more than 10 percent (2 million) are near elderly adults between the ages of 55 and 64;
- 4.6 million are women of reproductive age. Just over half (53 percent) are male;
- 18 percent (2.7 million) are parents who are living with their dependent children; and
- 55 percent are white, while 19 percent are Hispanic and another 19 percent are black.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on the ACA left it up to each state to decide whether to expand Medicaid coverage to nonelderly adults with incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, and some states have expressed concern about the fiscal challenges Medicaid expansion may pose. The authors note, however, that increased coverage among these groups could increase access to needed care and reduce financial hardships for these individuals and their families. The authors say there has been little state-level analysis of exactly who would benefit from Medicaid expansions.
Read the report. |
