Question

Since the average monthly costs are lower for those with poor health status after the ACA, how did the morbidity of the Medicaid group change after ACA?

Answer 1

Three main ACA changes lead to Medicaid enrollment gains.The ACA expands Medicaid eligibility to adults with incomes at or below 138 percent of the poverty line, which is just over $16,000 per year for an individual today .ACA implementation was associated with large coverage gains in targeted expansion groups, including cancer survivors, but additional progress is needed. Lack of health insurance is associated with a variety of adverse health outcomes.A cancer diagnosis may compound these challenges as cancer survivors may face increased need for diagnostic, therapeutic, and supportive care services across multiple settings. Lack of insurance among cancer survivors has been associated with worse access to guideline-consistent therapy, high out-of-pocket burdens,reduced access to surveillance, and increased morbidity and mortality. Ensuring access to insurance coverage for cancer survivors is of critical importance to improve cancer-related outcomes. Before the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), an estimated 14.7% of cancer survivors aged below 65 years (1.4 million) lacked insurance. This situation is largely due to loss of employment-based insurance and/or because of unavailable or unaffordable health insurance in the individual market due to history of cancer.8,9 Most state Medicaid programs provided coverage only for adults with dependent children, low-income seniors, pregnant women, and the disabled,10 and because most cancer survivors are not of child bearing age11 relatively few qualified on this basis.