Affordable Care Act Reduces Racial Disparities in Health Care Coverage

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has significantly reduced racial disparities in access to health care since 2014, according to a recent analysis by The Commonwealth Fund. The gap between uninsured rates for black adults and white adults declined 4.1 percentage points, while the gap between Hispanic and white adults dropped 9.4 points. All three racial groups saw lower uninsured rates and larger coverage improvements in Medicaid expansion states between 2013 and 2018. The report also compared the uninsured rate changes in Louisiana, which expanded Medicaid in 2016, and in Georgia, which did not expand the program. Both white and black adults with incomes under 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) saw coverage improvements from 2013 to 2015 in both states. Yet while Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion led to lower uninsured rates, Georgia’s rates remained flat after 2016.

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