Effects of the Recent Medicaid Expansions on Dental Preventive Services and Treatments.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Low-income adults in the United States have historically had poor access to dental services largely due to limited dental coverage.

Objective

We examined the effects of recent Medicaid income-eligibility expansions under the Affordable Care Act on dental visits separately for preventive care and treatments.

Research design

We used restricted data from the 2011 to 2016 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey with state geocodes. The main analytical sample included nearly 21,000 individuals who were newly eligible for Medicaid. We employed a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences design to identify the impact of the state Medicaid expansions effective in 2014 on dental services use by the level of state Medicaid dental benefit for the newly eligible.

Result

SUBMITTER: Lyu W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8211012 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature