By: Team Sherrod

It’s no secret that every day, Sherrod is in the Senate fighting for working families. And a big part of that fight is ensuring more Ohioans have access to the healthcare they need.

Sherrod has been a strong supporter of Medicaid expansion, made possible through the Affordable Care Act. In Ohio, the results of that expansion have been undeniably impressive, allowing more than 700,000 Ohioans to gain low-cost insurance coverage.

Reports show that the effects of Medicaid expansion across the country are positive, helping more people gain the high-quality care they need at a reasonable cost. Take a look at the numbers, and then show your support for Sherrod as he fights to make this a country where we all have access to the care we deserve.

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The New York Times: Finally, Some Answers on the Effects of Medicaid Expansion

Aaron E. Carroll – July 2, 2018

Key points:

• Many are still arguing about whether Medicaid expansion actually provides adequate care for more Americans. Dozens of studies are starting to answer those questions.

• Using data from community health centers that receive federal funding, researchers explored how access and quality changed from 2011 to 2015, before and after the Medicaid expansion. They compared centers in states where expansion had taken place with those in states where it had not, and found that in the expansion states, the percentage of uninsured patients dropped more than 11 points. The percentage of patients covered by Medicaid increased by more than 13 points.

• Rural health centers in states that expanded Medicaid experienced significant gains. More patients with asthma received appropriate drug treatment, more patients received appropriate weight screening and follow-up, and more patients with hypertension gained control over their blood pressure.

• Gains among rural Hispanic patients were even larger than those among white patients.

• All states that expanded Medicaid saw greater gains in coverage than those that did not. In general, states with higher uninsurance rates before expansion saw larger gains.

• Since the start of Medicaid expansion, 77 studies have been published. They include 440 distinct analyses. More than 60% of them found a significant effect of the Medicaid expansion that was consistent with the goals of the Affordable Care Act.

• It’s harder to study quality than access, but 40 analyses in 16 studies did so. About half of these reported improvements in quality measures like diabetes monitoring or preventive care screenings.

• It has only been a few years since the Medicaid expansion, and clearly we need to follow these results over time. But the evidence to date is—if anything—positive. States should keep this in mind as they debate whether and how to accept the ACA’s invitation to expand Medicaid.

Read more here.