After the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 at least 40 states have expanded Medicaid.
And prior research has shown that expanded access to Medicaid can improve access to cancer screening services such as mammograms.
A recent study looked at more than 20,000 patients and found that those living in states with Medicaid expansion were less likely to be uninsured a staggering 18.9% versus 41.1%
Those in Medicaid expanded states also were less likely to be diagnosed with stage 4 disease, with larger decreases in states that expanded Medicaid earlier.
Researchers say that Medicaid may only be part of the picture when it comes to receiving quality cancer care still, they believe that the study highlights how Medicaid expansion can lead to significantly lower rates of those without health insurance.
