Study finds Medicaid expansion (aka Obamacare) linked to lower out-of-pocket spending, reduced chance of catastrophic financial burden among recipients

Ashish Jha headshot

Faculty member Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, is an author on a study that examines the association between the expansion of Medicaid (under the Affordable Care Act) and changes in healthcare spending among recipients from 2014– 2017. Other authors on the paper include: Hiroshi Gotanda, Gerald F. Kominski, and Yusuke Tsugawa. Learn more in this UCLA Research Brief.

A population-level look at subjective well-being after the 2014 Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion

Headshots of Lindsay, Onur, Yulya, and Lisa

Researchers affiliated with the Harvard Pop Center, including Director Lisa Berkman, have published a study that looks at the impact of the Medicaid expansion on subjective well-being among low-income and general adult U.S. populations. Self-perceived measures of happiness, sadness, worry, stress, and life satisfaction did not appear to be impacted by the increased access to healthcare among the low-income sector or by a spill-over effect in the general population. The…