TY - JOUR
T1 - The Relationship between Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic-linked Job Losses and Health Care Access and Household Financial Health in Medicaid Expansion and Nonexpansion States
AU - Benitez, Joseph A.
AU - Huang, Huang
AU - Johnson, Portia L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/12/1
Y1 - 2023/12/1
N2 - Background: Unemployment associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was linked to financial insecurity and disruptions in access to health care. Objective: To explore whether expanded access to Medicaid mitigated the likelihood of health and non-health financial hardship associated with pandemic-linked job loss. Design: We estimate linear regression models comparing differences in the levels of outcomes attributable to pandemic-linked joblessness in Medicaid expansion and nonexpansion states. Observations: A total of 20,281 adults aged 19-64 were in the 2021 National Financial Capability Study. Measures: Our key exposure was job loss, layoffs, and furloughs, attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Outcomes under evaluation include indicators of health care access and household financial health. Results: Relative to persons reporting pandemic-linked unemployment in nonexpansion states, adults experiencing pandemic-linked job loss in expansion states were less likely to report as uninsured [-6.2 percentage points (PPs); 95% CI: -10.8, -1.6; P < 0.01], having unpaid medical bills (-4.3 PP; 95% CI: -8, -0.6; P < 0.05), having unmet medical needs due to cost (-5.3 PP; 95% CI: -10.1, -0.5; P < 0.05), and having calls from debt collection agencies (-6.9 PP; 95% CI: -10.6, -3.1; P < 0.01). Patterns consistent with Medicaid acting as a safety net for the adverse financial effects of job loss were more pronounced for middle-income households. Conclusions: In economic downturns, such as the COVID-19 crisis, Medicaid can help insulate households from diminished health care access and financial distress associated with job loss.
AB - Background: Unemployment associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was linked to financial insecurity and disruptions in access to health care. Objective: To explore whether expanded access to Medicaid mitigated the likelihood of health and non-health financial hardship associated with pandemic-linked job loss. Design: We estimate linear regression models comparing differences in the levels of outcomes attributable to pandemic-linked joblessness in Medicaid expansion and nonexpansion states. Observations: A total of 20,281 adults aged 19-64 were in the 2021 National Financial Capability Study. Measures: Our key exposure was job loss, layoffs, and furloughs, attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Outcomes under evaluation include indicators of health care access and household financial health. Results: Relative to persons reporting pandemic-linked unemployment in nonexpansion states, adults experiencing pandemic-linked job loss in expansion states were less likely to report as uninsured [-6.2 percentage points (PPs); 95% CI: -10.8, -1.6; P < 0.01], having unpaid medical bills (-4.3 PP; 95% CI: -8, -0.6; P < 0.05), having unmet medical needs due to cost (-5.3 PP; 95% CI: -10.1, -0.5; P < 0.05), and having calls from debt collection agencies (-6.9 PP; 95% CI: -10.6, -3.1; P < 0.01). Patterns consistent with Medicaid acting as a safety net for the adverse financial effects of job loss were more pronounced for middle-income households. Conclusions: In economic downturns, such as the COVID-19 crisis, Medicaid can help insulate households from diminished health care access and financial distress associated with job loss.
KW - COVID-19
KW - financial protections
KW - hardship
KW - medicaid
KW - safety net
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176970416&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85176970416&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/MLR.0000000000001933
DO - 10.1097/MLR.0000000000001933
M3 - Article
C2 - 37801548
AN - SCOPUS:85176970416
SN - 0025-7079
VL - 61
SP - 872
EP - 881
JO - Medical Care
JF - Medical Care
IS - 12
ER -