Assessing the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act on uninsured community health center patients: a nationwide and state-by-state analysis

Assessing the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act on uninsured community health center patients: a nationwide and state-by-state analysis

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
Policy research brief (Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative)
Author(s):
Shin, Peter, author
Sharac, Jessica, author
Rosenbaum, Sara, author
Contributor(s):
George Washington University. Department of Health Policy issuing body.
Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative issuing body.
Publication:
[Washington, D.C.] : George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Department of Health Policy, 2013
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Community Health Centers -- economics
Medically Uninsured -- legislation & jurisprudence
United States
United States.
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
In this brief, we estimate the number of uninsured community health center (CHC) patients who would gain coverage under the Affordable Care Act using data from the 2009 HRSA Survey of CHC patients and 2011 Uniform Data System. We find that were all states to implement the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion, an estimated 5 million uninsured health center patients--or two-thirds of all uninsured patients served by CHCs nationally--would be eligible for coverage. However, over one million uninsured patients--72% of whom live in southern states--who would have been eligible for coverage will remain uninsured because of states' decisions to opt out of the expansion. The spillover effects of the decision to opt out of the Medicaid expansion are likely to be significant. Health centers in opt-out states can be expected to struggle, falling further behind their expansion state counterparts in terms of service capacity, number of patients served (both insured and uninsured), and in their ability to invest in initiatives that improve the quality and efficiency of health care.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (15 pages))
NLM Unique ID:
101619652 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101619652