New England Journal of Medicine reports on Obamacare

[frigidmagi]

Politico

The Obama administration is touting yet another study showing that the Affordable Care Act has expanded health insurance to millions of Americans — this one published in the New England Journal of Medicine and estimating that 10 million have gained coverage under the law.

Using Gallup polling and HHS data, Harvard researchers estimate that the uninsured rate declined by 5.2 percentage points in the second quarter of this year, corresponding to 10.3 million adults gaining coverage — although that could range from 7.3 to 17.2 million depending on how the data are interpreted. At least one researcher also has an HHS affiliation.

The study, published Wednesday, is the latest in a recent series of surveys showing the number of uninsured dropping since Obamacare exchanges started last fall.

(Also on POLITICO: How Obama's court strategy may save Obamacare)

A Commonwealth Fund survey found that 9.5 million fewer adults are uninsured now than at the beginning of Obamacare enrollment, while the Urban Institute found an 8 million drop in the uninsured rate.

The CBO projected that the law would reduce the uninsured by 12 million Americans this year, leaving 42 million still lacking coverage.

The researchers found that the uninsured rate fell from 21 percent in September 2013 to 16.3 percent in April 2014. Latinos, blacks and young adults experienced the most significant declines.

There was a major difference between the states that expanded Medicaid under the health law — where it caused the uninsured rate to dip by an estimated 5.1 percent — and those that didn’t, where there wasn’t any statistical change associated with Medicaid enrollment.

“We found that the number of Americans without health insurance declined significantly since the ACA open-enrollment period began in October 2013,” the researchers wrote.

HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said the study reaffirms that Obamacare is working.

“We are committed to providing every American with access to quality, affordable health services and this study reaffirms that the Affordable Care Act has set us on a path toward achieving that goal,” she said in a statement. “This study also reaffirms that expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act is important for coverage, as well as a good deal for states.”

Good news, good news.

[LadyTevar]

Even as the GOP bitch, it's Working.