Study: Medicaid expansion will help lower out-of-pocket costs

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Source: The Hill

Expanding Medicaid is the healthcare law's single best tool for reducing out-of-pocket healthcare costs, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said in a research paper Wednesday.

The study said other provisions of the Affordable Care Act will have an "uneven impact" on healthcare costs for low-income families, because of state-by-state variations in cost.

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"States with a larger share of low-income residents currently facing high medical spending burden levels may benefit most," said Kyle Caswell, a researcher at The Urban Institute and the study's lead author. "State officials can alleviate this burden by expanding Medicaid eligibility, which will enable people with limited resources to access health care at no or very low cost.”

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"The ACA’s Medicaid expansions can potentially play an important role in expanding access to comprehensive medical care at no or very limited cost to low-income individuals … States that participate in the expansions have an opportunity to significantly decrease financial burdens for a high-need segment of their population," the report said.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicaid/291645-study-medicaid-expansion-will-help-lower-out-of-pocket-costs

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1. I have dual coverage under Medicare and Medicaid (commonly called medi/medi).

It's made a significant impact on my health care situation. Medically and financially.