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A examine by UC Berkeley Faculty of Public Well being researchers exhibits that private revenue elevated 9.6% for individuals who turned newly eligible for Medicaid in states that expanded Medicaid in 2014.
Analysis has proven that the Inexpensive Care Act (ACA), often known as Obamacare, improved well being care entry for low-income Individuals and that entry to Medicaid had been instrumental in maintaining hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty.
However this examine, revealed within the journal Well being Affairs Scholar and led by Well being Coverage and Administration doctoral candidate Stacy Chen, is the primary to look at the impression of the ACA’s enlargement of Medicaid advantages on revenue.
In 2014, 23 states expanded entry to Medicaid (18 states that expanded entry earlier than or after 2014 weren’t included as a part of this examine). The ACA’s Medicaid enlargement elevated revenue eligibility thresholds for folks, from 106% to 138% of the federal poverty degree on common and, for the primary time, allowed low-income childless adults to enroll.
Earnings for newly eligible people in these states had been in comparison with revenue for individuals who would have been expanded within the 10 states who selected to not broaden entry to Medicaid. These states included Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
“Gaining a better understanding of how increased access to Medicaid impacts individuals across a multitude of dimensions, including economic, is critical for the current political moment in which Medicaid funding faces substantial uncertainty,” mentioned examine co-author Becky Staiger, assistant professor of Well being Coverage and Administration at UC Berkeley Faculty of Public Well being.
Imply particular person revenue by enlargement standing, 2009–2019. Supply: Authors’ common yearly estimates from the Mobility, Alternative, and Volatility Statistics (MOVS) knowledge, Notes: 2009–2019. Means are unadjusted and weighted by the depend of people in a given cohort. The vertical dashed black line represents the 12 months of Medicaid enlargement (2014). Credit score: Well being Affairs Scholar (2025). DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxaf091
“This study provides additional evidence of the welfare benefits of access to Medicaid across multiple domains, including economic. It may inform current discussions among policymakers around levels of funding.”
“We also found that those who are newly eligible for Medicaid took less unpaid time away from work,” mentioned Chen. “Usually, folks take unpaid time off for personal illness or to take care of sick family members. Gaining Medicaid could have allowed them to manage their illnesses better and work more. Still, having less unpaid time off only explains 12% of the increased income that we observed—it would be great to explore other drivers in future work!”
Presently, the One Huge Stunning Invoice is proposing to severely limit who can enroll in Medicaid via work necessities, discount in state funding from the federal authorities, and the elevated burden of re-certification of Medicaid eligibility on eligible Individuals.
The outcomes of this examine trace {that a} lower in people lined by Medicaid may have a better impression on economics for people and communities.
“All of these things will lead to a reduction in Medicaid enrollment,” mentioned Staiger. “Increasing Medicaid enrollment is increasing income—at least in part because the individual is able to get a job without worrying about health insurance, or they just have better health and so they don’t need to miss as much work for health events. That is an economic generator.”
“On the flip side, if we are now taking this protective health care away from people, we can speculate we will go back to the poor health that can lead to income loss.”
Extra info:
Stacy Chen et al, Medicaid enlargement elevated revenue amongst newly eligible adults, Well being Affairs Scholar (2025). DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxaf091
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College of California – Berkeley
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Medicaid eligibility results in larger revenue, examine exhibits (2025, September 23)
retrieved 24 September 2025
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