Medicaid And Private Insurance Coverage For Low-Income Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, And Pacific Islanders, 2010-16.

Abstract

To determine how low-income Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) adults gained health insurance coverage-specifically, via Medicaid or private insurance-under the Affordable Care Act, we used a difference-in-differences approach to compare uninsurance rates in 2010-13 and 2015-16. In Medicaid expansion states, adjusted Medicaid coverage gains were 9.67 percentage points larger than in nonexpansion states; however, adjusted private coverage gains in expansion states were 10.19 percentage points lower. These results indicate that, in contrast to the case for other racial/ethnic groups, for AANHPI the Medicaid coverage increases in expansion states were of similar magnitude to the private insurance coverage increases in nonexpansion states. Reasons for this may include differences in willingness to enroll in public versus private coverage, barriers related to language or citizenship status, or other factors. Future studies are needed to understand these patterns and promote health equity for this population.