State report touts benefits of Medicaid expansion

State officials this week released a new report crediting Medicaid expansion with reducing the uninsured rate, helping low-income residents find work and providing more access to mental health and addiction services (Source: “Report touts benefits of Medicaid expansion,” Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 21, 2018).

The 2018 Medicaid Assessment, commissioned by the state, gave largely glowing reviews to expanding eligibility. Among the findings:

• 290,000 former expansion beneficiaries, or 71 percent, left the rolls because they found a job or were earning more money.
• About half of all enrollees — 630,000 beneficiaries — have received treatment for mental illness or substance abuse.
• Ohio’s adult uninsured rate, although up slightly since 2015, has still dropped by nearly half since 2012, to 9.3 percent.