The American Diabetes Association has just published a peer-reviewed article?stating that in the first six months of 2013 and 2014, an additional 400,000 patients were diagnosed with diabetes within the states where Medicaid was expanded under the Affordable Care Act.
The number of Medicaid patients with newly identified diabetes surged 23% in states that expanded their programs, an option provided by the law, but there was virtually no increase in states that declined to expand coverage, researchers found.
“Clearly, the expansion of Medicaid has had a tremendous impact,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Harvey Kaufman, senior medical director of Quest Diagnostics. “It has helped a lot of people, and frankly helps anyone who pays.”
The implication is obvious: most of these people avoided consulting doctors or seeking help because they did not have health insurance or the ability to pay for the invariably?unthinkable?health care bill they would get if they tried.
As more and more Americans become able to access their much needed care, these staggering results may become even more astronomical: these results are based only on 26 states and Washington DC, the half of the country that did sign up for the Expansion, where Medicaid enrollment increased 18.5%.
The remaining 22 states — all of which are run either by Republican Governors or legislatures — refused the expansion based on concerns over costs and efficiency. If not for any other reason, such as decency, this study alone shows the expansion is not only worth it, it’s urgently needed.
For these patients, early diagnosis means the difference between suffering consequences such as blindness and amputation. For the rest of us, it means billions of dollars less?will have to be spent on their lifetime care, preventable surgeries and hospitalizations.
Preventive medicine through Obamacare is a formula that guarantees everybody wins.
