Journals Information
Universal Journal of Public Health Vol. 13(1), pp. 63 - 72
DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2025.130106
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Effects of the Affordable Care Acts on Medicaid Recipients Seeking Appointment
Binda Godlove Aka 1,*, Ed Gerrish 2
1 Department of Political Science and International Relations, Adelphi University, United States of America
2 Department of Political Science, University of South Dakota, United States of America
ABSTRACT
This study evaluates the impact of Medicaid expansion resulting from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in ten states in the U.S. using data from phone audits to prospective health care providers. We examine whether the implementation of the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 Medicaid expansion impacted hypothetical patients through responses to requests for appointments and the timeliness of those appointments. We used a difference-in-difference design, the objects of which are states that expanded early, states that expanded later, and states that never expanded Medicaid. Results indicate that Medicaid Expansion did not increase Medicaid recipients鈥� access to health care, nor did it harm access (results were not statistically different from zero). However, Medicaid recipients were more likely to receive a vague or hypothetical appointment compared to that before Medicaid expansion. These results suggest that Medicaid Expansion has led to little change in appointment availability to access physicians for low-income individuals; perhaps a slight increase in a vague or hypothetical appointment but no change in a regular or timely appointment. We find that, despite warnings about the negative impact of Medicaid Expansion by many scholars, an audit study of such appointments did not find deleterious effects on Medicaid patients鈥� ability to make appointments. The study concludes that ACA Medicaid expansion has positively changed the dynamics of access to healthcare for low-income individuals in the United States by providing them with both insurance and access.
KEYWORDS
Primary Healthcare, Access to Physicians, Appointment Availability, Medicaid Expansion, Affordable Care Act
Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Binda Godlove Aka , Ed Gerrish , "Effects of the Affordable Care Acts on Medicaid Recipients Seeking Appointment," Universal Journal of Public Health, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 63 - 72, 2025. DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2025.130106.
(b). APA Format:
Binda Godlove Aka , Ed Gerrish (2025). Effects of the Affordable Care Acts on Medicaid Recipients Seeking Appointment. Universal Journal of Public Health, 13(1), 63 - 72. DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2025.130106.