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Friday, February 7th, 2014

Study: Thousands Of People Will Die In States That Don’t Expand Medicaid

Author:     DYLAN SCOTT
Source:     Talking Points Memo
Publication Date:     12:18 PM EST, Thu Feb 6 2014
Link: Study: Thousands Of People Will Die In States That Don’t Expand Medicaid
Stephan:   If you read me regularly, particularly if you look at my Explore essays, you know I have been writing about the healthcare aspect of the Great Schism Trend showing that Red value states, and the politicians citizens of those states vote into office are literally damaging their lives. (See: At the Cost of Your Life: Social Value, Social Wellness. http://www.explorejournal.com/article/S1550-8307%2813%2900249-8/fulltext. Social Values, Social Wellness: Can We Know What Works? http://www.explorejournal.com/article/S1550-8307%2811%2900346-6/fulltext) Here is yet another data point on that trend. It is a lethally tragic story.

As many as 17,000 Americans will die directly as a result of states deciding not to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, according to a new study.

Researchers from Harvard University and City University of New York have estimated that between 7,115 and 17,104 deaths will be “attributable to the lack of Medicaid expansion in opt-out states” in a study published in Health Affairs.

“The results were sobering,” Samuel Dickman, one of the authors, said, according to the Morning Call. “Political decisions have consequences, some of them lethal.”

They projected that 423,000 fewer diabetics would receive medication to treat their disease. If opt-out states had expanded Medicaid, 659,000 women who are in need of mammograms and 3.1 million women who should receive regular pap smears would have become insured, the study found.

“Low-income adults in states that have opted out of Medicaid expansion will forego gains in access to care, financial well-being, physical and mental health, and longevity that would be expected with expanded Medicaid coverage,” the authors wrote.

In terms of health coverage, expanding states will experience a 48.9 percent decrease in their uninsured population compared to a 18.1 percent decrease in non-expanding states. Eight million people will remain uninsured because their states didn’t expand Medicaid, […]

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