Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
After Callais: The Amendment Agenda the Framers Built

After Callais: The Amendment Agenda the Framers Built

Trump Never Intended To Be Just

Trump Never Intended To Be Just

A male senior stands in the shadow of a Social Security card with bite missing.

Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Has a Hidden Cost: Social Security

Our Nation’s Teachers: Appreciated in Name, Dishonored in Practice

Our Nation’s Teachers: Appreciated in Name, Dishonored in Practice

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
By Keshav SrikantJun 25, 2024
Keshav Srikant
Keshav Srikant, EconoFact is a contributor for The Fulcrum, a nonpartisan publication dedicated to strengthening democracy by fostering informed civic engagement and elevating diverse perspectives.
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


Latest news

8 Keys to Working Across Differences
Bridging & Common Ground

8 Keys to Working Across Differences

An American flag waves in front to the U.S. Capitol Building
Democracy

The Elephant in the DNC's 2024 Election Report

Can Governing Survive Without Continuity?
Governance & Legislation

Can Governing Survive Without Continuity?

‘Death By a Thousand Cuts’: Longer Renewal Times Are Making DACA Recipients Deportable
Governance & Legislation

‘Death By a Thousand Cuts’: Longer Renewal Times Are Making DACA Recipients Deportable

Read More

Can Coalitions Built on Opposition Still Govern?

Supporters of President Donald Trump, February 09, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Can Coalitions Built on Opposition Still Govern?

Political parties are supposed to do two things at once: win elections and govern. Those are not the same skill.

Winning elections requires assembling coalitions large enough to secure power. Governing requires maintaining enough internal agreement to make decisions, negotiate trade-offs, allocate resources, and sustain policy direction once power is achieved.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Fragile Promise of the Ballot
black and white love print crew neck shirt
Photo by Cyrus Crossan on Unsplash

The Fragile Promise of the Ballot

Recent Supreme Court decisions such as Shelby County v. Holder and Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee were not just redefinitions of election law; they marked a critical shift away from the federal government’s duty to ensure equal ballot access—a duty fundamental to democracy.

The consequences were swift and broad. Within hours, Shelby County, Texas, imposed strict voter ID rules that federal officials had previously blocked under the Voting Rights Act’s pre-clearance provisions. Soon after, North Carolina reduced early voting and eliminated same-day registration. Across parts of Alabama, Georgia, and other Southern states, polling places closed or moved, often in communities with large Black populations. What once required federal review could now proceed quickly.

Keep ReadingShow less
Veterans Caught in the Justice System Need Support, Not Neglect
Worn american flag with white embroidered stars and red stripes.
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Veterans Caught in the Justice System Need Support, Not Neglect

Roughly 200,000 service members leave the military each year. As a retired brigadier general who spent more than three decades in the U.S. Army, I know that most of them return home stronger from their service with a greater sense of pride and purpose.

But many veterans also carry invisible wounds. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, or other combat-related trauma, too many fall into the criminal justice system and still need our help.

Keep ReadingShow less
Senate Pushes $72 Billion ICE Funding Boost as Abuse Allegations Mount
Federal agents guard outside of a federal building and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in downtown Los Angeles as demonstrations continue after a series of immigration raids began last Friday on June 13, 2025, in Los Angeles, California.
Getty Images, Spencer Platt

Senate Pushes $72 Billion ICE Funding Boost as Abuse Allegations Mount

Washington, D.C. — The Senate is preparing to begin a budget reconciliation process that could direct up to $72 billion in new funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a move that has prompted sharp criticism from civil rights groups who argue the agencies already operate with expanded enforcement powers and minimal oversight.

The proposal isn’t a standard spending bill. It’s a reconciliation package, which allows Republicans to advance it in the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes normally required to break a filibuster. That procedural choice makes it one of the most direct efforts yet to cement Trump’s immigration agenda without needing Democratic support.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026