Two years after Medicaid coverage was expanded under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in their states, the uninsured rate among low-income residents in Arkansas dropped from 42% in 2013 to 14% in 2015, and in Kentucky it dropped from 40% to 9% during the same time frame. (In comparison, in Texas, which didn’t opt to expand Medicaid coverage under ACA, the uninsured rate went from 39% to 32% during those years.) As a result, “low-income adults in Kentucky and Arkansas received more primary and preventive care, made fewer emergency department visits, and reported higher quality care and improved health compared with low-income adults in Texas,” the study stated.

To read the study, called, “Changes in Utilization and Health Among Low-Income Adults After Medicaid Expansion or Expanded Private Insurance,” Benjamin D. Sommers, Robert J. Blendon, E. John Orav, Arnold M. Epstein, JAMA Internal Medicine, online August 8, 2016, visit:

doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2016:4419