Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Coverage gains made and subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reduced income inequality by more than 10% in 2019, according to a new study (Source: “ACA’s Coverage Gains Decreased Income Inequality: Study,” Fierce Healthcare, January 7, 2021).
The study from the left-leaning think tank Urban Institute, backed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and published in Health Affairs, found that for a typical person in the bottom 10th percentile of income, those who enrolled in a plan under the ACA saw their incomes increase by an average of 18.8%.
In states that expanded Medicaid, their incomes rose by an average of 22%, the study found. The study also found that coverage gains led to reductions in income inequality within and between age and racial groups.