Affordability, Access to Medical Care Improved With Affordable Care Act

(HealthDay News) — Implementation of the Affordable Care Act has improved access to care and affordability of care for many adults, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

Adele Shartzer, MPH, from the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., and colleagues examined how access to and affordability of care may be changing under the Affordable Care Act. Changes in access and affordability for nonelderly adults were assessed using data from the Health Reform Monitoring Survey from September 2013 to March 2015 (before the first open enrollment period in the Marketplace to after the end of the second open enrollment period).

The researchers found that there were strong improvements in access to care for all nonelderly adults; these were seen across income and state Medicaid expansion groups. Improvements in affordability of care were seen for all adults, and for low- and moderate-income adults.

“Despite this progress, there were still large gaps in access and affordability in March 2015, particularly for low-income adults,” the researchers wrote.

Reference

1. Shartzer A, Long SK, Anderson N. Access To Care And Affordability Have Improved Following Affordable Care Act Implementation; Problems Remain. Health Aff. 2015;doi;10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0755.