New research published by the Keck School of medicine highlighted that reduction in mortality could be linked with medical expansion. When the Supreme Court made Medicaid expansion in the states optional, nearly half of them chose to participate. rt made Medicaid expansion in the states optional, nearly half of them chose to participate.
The Medical Expansion Has Reduced Mortality
Nearly a quarter of states still have to expand Medicaid coverage, and the issues are now at the focus of a national debate over President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation.
According to a study published in The Lancet Public Health, making Medicaid available to more people reduces mortality. According to the report, increasing Medicaid might result in a 3.8 percent reduction in adult mortality each year.
We analyzed five federally-managed registries covering states that have increased Medicaid access and those that have not, using national data to look for results on a population level,” said lead researcher Brian P. Lee, MD, MAS, an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine. “We found that Medicaid expansion had an effect on death rates—and that the size of the benefit is related to the size of the expansion.”
Medicaid expansion was linked to roughly 12 fewer fatalities per 100,000 people yearly in 32 expansion states and 17 non-expansion states, according to the study. The findings could have certain resultants for public policy in terms of improving health results and treatment quality.
The optional Medicaid expansion went into effect in 2014, providing health coverage to an extra 12 million Americans. From 2014 to 2018, Lee’s research looked at data from the first four years of increasing eligibility.
One of the most notable findings of the study is that a reduction in all-cause mortality was linked to a fall in the uninsured population at the state level, even in states that did not expand Medicaid.
The data show that the improvement in mortality linked with Medicaid expansion is due to an increase in the number of people having health insurance. Although the study found that Medicaid expansion had effective benefits, they differed by condition and state.
The number of women and non-Hispanic Black residents in each state had the most significant impact on all-cause mortality. States that have chosen not to extend Medicare have a higher number of poor and Black inhabitants. Thus, according to Lee, they may stand to benefit the most from Medicaid expansion.
“We found that the expansion in medical resulted in fewer cardiovascular and respiratory fatalities, which makes sense: more access to specialty care and proper medicines meant fewer chronic disease-related deaths,” Lee said. “At the same time, the statistics show that extending Medicaid did not affect cancer, infection, or opioid-related mortality, suggesting that preventative care may not be as effective.”
On the other hand, Lee believes there could be other factors at play. “We know from experience that even if patients with substance use problems have access to services, they may not have access to the proper services or services promptly,” Lee said.
“As a result, even if we close the insurance gap—that is, by covering a large number of people with Medicaid or other health plans—there are likely services gaps that must be addressed to maximize mortality-related gains.”
Lee’s research was meant to take into account a variety of aspects. Before Medicaid expansion in 2014, data showed that the uninsured rate and the mortality rate were already declining. To account for this, Lee and his colleagues used a difference-in-differences analysis to establish the correctness of their findings while correcting for historical trends.
Finally, the findings may help policymakers in the United States, and other nations are also considering access to public health services and other medical services.
