Skip to content
Election Overtime Project
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
Ducks

The 12 worst House districts: Experts label gerrymandering's dirty dozen

Former felon Erica Racz registering to voting

Florida top court ruling on felon voting is hardly the final word

Has Medicaid expansion in states improved health outcomes?

Protestors call for health care beneifts

People demonstrate in support of health care in 2017 in Montana, which expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

William Campbell-Corbis via Getty Images
Keshav Srikant, EconoFact
By Keshav Srikant, EconoFactJun 25, 2024
Keshav Srikant, EconoFact
See More Writings by author

This fact brief was originally published by EconoFact. Read the original here. Fact briefs are published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network, and republished by The Fulcrum. Visit Gigafact to learn more.

Has Medicaid expansion in states improved health outcomes?

Yes.

Studies have shown that Medicaid expansion in states does lead to improved health outcomes.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) sought to reduce the number of uninsured Americans through federal government subsidies of Medicaid coverage expansion. This Medicaid expansion was made optional to states, and as of May 2024 there were 10 U.S. states that had not yet implemented it. A study comparing outcomes of expansion vs. non-expansion states found a significant reduction in mortality in states that expanded Medicaid.

Individuals aged 55 to 64 with either less than a high school degree or income under the threshold (138 percent of the federal poverty level) experienced a 9.4 percent drop in mortality after expansion as compared to non-expansion states. Furthermore, research on states that already expanded Medicaid found no clear change in overall spending from state funds due to offsetting savings in health care costs.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

KFF Status of State Medicaid Expansion Decisions: Interactive Map

EconoFact Impact of Medicaid Expansion on State Budgets and Mortality

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Latest news

blue and red paper cutout figures coming together
Bridging & Common Ground

How to reunite America around a roadmap for the future

Donald Trump in front of a large crowd
Rule of Law

Donald Trump’s democratic legacy

Read More

Latino man sitting outside a motel room

One arm of the government defines homelessness narrowly, focusing on those living in shelters or on the streets. But another deparmtent also counts people living in doubled-up housing or motels as homeless.

Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

How conflicting definitions of homelessness fail Latino families

Arzuaga is the housing policy analyst for the Latino Policy Forum.

The majority of Latinos in the United States experiencing homelessness are invisible. They aren’t living in shelters or on the streets but are instead “doubled up” — staying temporarily with friends or family due to economic hardship. This form of homelessness is the most common, yet it remains undercounted and, therefore, under-addressed, partly due to conflicting federal definitions of homelessness.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development defines homelessness narrowly, focusing on those living in shelters or places not meant for habitation, such as the streets. This definition, while useful for some purposes, excludes many families and children who are technically homeless because they live in uncertain and sometimes dangerous housing situations but are not living on the streets. This narrow definition means that many of these “doubled up” families don’t qualify for the resources and critical housing support that HUD provides, leaving them to fend for themselves in precarious living situations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Book cover
University of California Press

'Sin Padres, Ni Papeles’ captures tales of unaccompanied migrant youth

Cardenas is a freelance journalist based in Northern California.

The future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program remains in limbo after judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit heard arguments in October. DACA offers temporary protection from deportation and provides work permits to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, who are often referred to as "Dreamers."

For six years, Stephanie Canizales listened to the coming-of-age stories of unaccompanied migrant youth inside Los Angeles’ church courtyards, community gardens, English night classes, McDonald’s restaurant booths and more.

“Story after story… as much as there was pain and suffering, there was resilience and hope,” Canizales said.

Keep ReadingShow less
A crowd of protesters in Times Square,, with one person holding a sign that reads "PROJECT 2025 is CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM" by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The sign includes the hashtags #StopProject2025 and au.org/project2025. The background features prominent advertisements, including a Meta billboard and the Nasdaq building.

Project 2025 would restrict freedom of religion, writes Quince.

Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

What kind of America do you want?

Quince, a member of the board of Lawyers Defending American Democracy, was the first African American woman to serve on the Florida Supreme Court and as chief justice.

On Nov. 5, in elections around the country, we will determine whether these United States of America will continue to aspire to be a democratic republic or whether this country will give up its freedoms and embrace authoritarianism.

As an African American female who has lived through — and is still living through — systemic racism in this country, I know that despite the flaws in our system, our best path forward is to continue to work for justice and equality for all, to work with and preserve the rule of law and embrace and strengthen the constitutional ideals that are the hallmark of our American democracy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Supreme Court
Casey He

When the Supreme Court fails, are states' high courts an answer?

Toscano is an attorney and a former Democratic leader in the Virginia House of Delegates. He is the author of “Fighting Political Gridlock: How States Shape Our Nation and Our Lives.”

Montana and Kansas are typically viewed as politically conservative states. Donald Trump won both in 2016 and 2020 by hefty margins, and Democrats rarely prevail in presidential contests there. Bill Clinton was the last to win in Big Sky Country in 1992, and Lyndon Johnson was the last Democrat to take Kansas’ electoral votes in 1964.

While Democrats in both states can win statewide contests, their legislatures have been controlled by Republicans for decades, and now hold supermajorities in both chambers.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2024