Dive Brief:
- The Kaiser Family Foundation released two reports this week concluding that hospitals that serve low-income populations are faring better in states that expanded Medicaid eligibility compared to those that did not.
- The data indicate that the ACA, in states that have embraced full implementation, is helping safety-net hospitals reduce their costs for uncompensated care and increase their Medicaid revenue, while receiving fewer uninsured patients.
- One of the two reports examined Ascension Health, which has 131 hospitals in 16 states and DC. The second report examined nine unrelated safety-net hospital systems across the U.S.
Dive Insight:
The results of the two reports are compelling. Among the findings for Ascension hospitals in Medicaid-expansion states, researchers discovered:
- A 32% decline in uninsured patients vs. only a 4% decline at Ascension hospitals in non-expansion states.
- A 40% drop in charity care costs vs. only a 6% drop at Ascension hospitals in non-expansion states.
- A 7% increase in discharged patients whose costs were covered by Medicaid vs. only a 1% increase at their hospitals in non-expansion states.
The study of nine separate safety-net hospital systems also found data overall supportive of the ACA, but notes, "...executives at each system in the study noted that other non-ACA related factors have also shaped how their hospitals fared over the last year."
In that study, researchers determined that five of six hospitals located in Medicaid-expansion states increased their Medicaid revenue and reduced their costs for charity care. At the same time, Harris Health System, located in the non-expansion state of Texas, also reported modest Medicaid revenue growth and a decline in charity care.