Association of Affordable Care Act-related Medicaid expansion with variation in utilization of surgical services

Abstract

BackgroundWe aim to understand how Medicaid expansion under the ACA has affected utilization of surgical services. MethodsThe State Inpatient Databases were used to compare utilization of a broad array of surgical procedures among nonelderly adults (aged 19–64 years) in a multistate population that experienced ACA-related Medicaid expansion to one that did not. We performed a difference-in-differences (DID) analysis to determine the effect of Medicaid expansion on utilization of surgical services from 2012 to 2014. ResultsThere were 259,061 cases identified in the Medicaid expansion population and 261,269 in the control population. In the expansion group, there was a smaller decrease in utilization - by a margin of 21.68 cases per 100,000 individuals (p < 0.001). Percent of surgical patients covered by Medicaid increased among the expansion group from 12.00% to 15.48% (DID = 3.93%; p < 0.001). ConclusionsYear one of Medicaid expansion under the ACA was associated with a modest but statistically significant difference in utilization of surgical services as well as an increase in percent of surgery patients covered by Medicaid.