Federal Report: Poor Adults’ Health Needs Addressed Better With Medicaid Expansion

Low-income adults in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid are more likely to have unmet medical needs than the poor in states that expanded the government-run program, a federal report says.

The report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), released Monday, based its estimates from a 2016 national survey. An estimated 5.6 million uninsured low-income adults had incomes eligible for expanded Medicaid as outlined under the Affordable Care Act. Most of them reside in the 17 states, including Georgia, that have not adopted expansion.

Medicaid expansion has become a campaign issue in the upcoming gubernatorial election in Georgia.