With the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid to low-income uninsured people now voluntary, several states have indicated that they will turn down their share of the billions of federal dollars available for expanding the program. In a new blog post, Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis and senior researcher Kristof Stremikis review the evidence showing how Medicaid leads to better access to care, less medical debt, and lower mortality rates.
"States that choose not to participate in the expansion don't just place the health and well-being of their citizens at risk, they also forgo an important opportunity to strengthen their local health care delivery systems by placing them on more stable financial footing," the authors say.
