Research finds ACA reduces racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare

A research study from the University of Michigan has found that the Affordable Care Act has reduced racial and ethnic disparities in health insurance coverage, reports the Michigan Daily.

Analyzing data from the American Community Survey from 2008 to 2014, the team of researchers examined the change in percentage of nonelderly adults who were uninsured, covered by Medicaid or covered by a private health insurance.

Accounting for the inclusions of provisions the ACA adopted in 2014, which included establishing minimum standards for the health insurance policies that require individuals who are uninsured to buy insurance or to pay a penalty unless the individual has a financial hardship or is part of a recognized religious sect that has contrary views of healthcare, the provisions helped reduce the healthcare coverage disparities in Blacks and Hispanics due to ACA subsidizing of private insurance as well as the increased availability of Medicaid coverage in many states for low-income individuals and families. 

The results of the study found that 40.5 percent of Hispanic and 25.8 percent of black adults were uninsured in 2013. After the main ACA provisions went into effect in 2014, the percentage of uninsured adults was reduced by 7.1, with a 5.1 percent reduction for Hispanics and 5.1 percent for Blacks, which is much larger than the 3 percent reduction for whites. Still, substantial racial and ethnic disparities exist, such as such as income and citizenship status, said Helen Levy, research associate professor at the Ford School of Public Policy and one of the co-authors on the study.

“Income is also a very important factor that explains the disparity in coverage between Blacks and whites,” Levy said. “For Hispanics, whether or not they are citizens is an important determinant of coverage.”

The coverage gap was found to be 3.2 percent between blacks and whites, while it was 9 percent between all income categories combined. The coverage gap between Hispanic noncitizens and whites was found to be 40 percent.  

“In particular, Hispanic noncitizens are much less likely to have coverage than Hispanic citizens,” Levy said. “This was true before ACA and remains true now. So there is still a lot of work to do, in terms of making health insurance coverage available to all members of society.”