Early Rural Experiences of Changes to Medicaid

The Affordable Care Act included provisions for a substantial expansion in Medicaid, but the Supreme Court ruled that states could not be compelled to expand. Many states decided not to expand. These states are disproportionately Southern and rural. Medicaid expansion's effect on rural providers is likely to vary widely across the country. Rural residents tend to have higher enrollment in Medicaid, healthcare providers in the South tend to have lower profitability, and the ACA's Medicaid expansion was coupled with decreases in funding for some safety net services (e.g. DSH).

This project will 1) develop baseline state-level snapshots of rural enrollment in Medicaid and 2) estimate and model enrollment expansion in each state. We will also conduct a baseline provider key informant interviews in late 2013 to gauge expected effects, with follow up interviews in Summer 2014 as a sentinel warning system of early effects of changes to Medicaid in order to inform timely policy development.

There may be products related to this project; please contact the lead researcher for more information.