Closing Gaps or Holding Steady? The Affordable Care Act, Medicaid Expansion, and Racial Disparities in Coverage, 2010-2021.

Abstract

Context: Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) produced major gains in coverage. However, findings on racial and ethnic disparities are mixed and may depend on how disparities are measured. This study examines absolute and relative changes in uninsurance from 2010 to 2021 by race and ethnicity, stratified by Medicaid expansion status.

Methods: The sample included all respondents younger than age 65 (N = 30,339,104) from the American Community Survey, 2010-21. Absolute and relative differences in uninsurance, compared to white Non-Hispanic individuals, were calculated for individuals who were Hispanic; Black; Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian (AANHPI); American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN); and multiracial. States were stratified into ever-expanded versus nonexpansion status.

Findings: After the ACA, three patterns of coverage disparities emerge. For Hispanic and Black individuals, relative to white individuals, absolute disparities in uninsurance declined, but relative disparities were largely unchanged in both expansion and nonexpansion states. For AANHPI individuals, disparities were eliminated entirely in both expansion and nonexpansion states. For AIAN individuals, disparities declined in absolute terms but grew in relative terms, particularly in expansion states.

Conclusions: All groups experienced coverage gains after the ACA, but changes in disparities were heterogeneous. Focused interventions are needed to improve coverage rates for Black, Hispanic, and AIAN individuals.