Medicaid coverage improves access to health care and chronic disease control: AJPH study

Medicaid coverage improves access to health care and chronic disease control: AJPH study


Public Release: 12-Nov-2015
Medicaid coverage improves access to health care and chronic disease control: AJPH study
States that do not expand Medicaid miss an important opportunity to improve their population's health, say Harvard Medical School researchers
Physicians for a National Health Program

Low-income Americans with Medicaid insurance have more awareness and better treatment of chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, than their uninsured counterparts, a group of Harvard researchers said today. People with Medicaid are also five times more likely to see a doctor than those with no health insurance.

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"We found that Medicaid greatly improves blood pressure control," said Christopher, who is also a primary care physician at Cambridge Health Alliance. "People with Medicaid were 69 percent more likely to be aware of having high blood pressure and 62 percent more likely to have control of their high blood pressure. We know that's the key to preventing strokes and heart attacks."

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Study co-author Dr. Danny McCormick, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard, said: "We need to get everyone covered in a single-payer system, but until we do, Medicaid is clearly better than no coverage. The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid to some states, but not all. We must do better than that if we want to improve the health of all Americans. With mounting proof that Medicaid improves health, why are politicians refusing to cover their constituents?"