According to a new study published in the October issue of Health Fairs entitled Access To Care Improved For People Who Gained Medicaid Or Marketplace Coverage In 2014, “newly available longitudinal survey data (http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/35/10/1830.abstract) shows that people who lacked health insurance in 2013 and gained coverage through Medicaid or the Marketplaces in 2014 were far more likely to obtain a usual source of care and receive preventive care services than their counterparts who remained uninsured in 2014.”
According to Politico, “the study showed that about one in four (27 percent) previously uninsured people who did not have a regular source for care in 2013 gained one after obtaining exchange coverage. At the same time, 18 percent of previously uninsured individuals reported obtaining a regular care provider after signing up for Medicaid in 2014.Only 11 percent of individuals who were uninsured in 2013 and 2014 reported the same improvement in accessing medical care.
35 percent of individuals who gained exchange coverage had a routine checkup in 2014 after skipping one the previous year, but only 14 percent of those who remained uninsured experienced the same benefit. And 30 percent of exchange enrollees had a blood pressure screening after missing one in 2013, compared with 13 percent of still uninsured individuals.”