Medicaid Expansion Associated With Reductions In Mortality Among Young Adults With Kidney Failure

The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion was associated with reductions in one-year mortality among young adults ages 19 to 23 years who initiated dialysis for kidney failure, according to a recent study. Before expansion, this group had a one-year mortality rate of 3.6%, which declined to 2.1% following expansion, a reduction of 1.5 percentage points. After accounting for concurrent changes among adolescents ages 14 to 18 years, whose Medicaid eligibility was largely unaffected by the ACA, the adjusted difference-in-differences estimate for mortality reduction was 1.8 percentage points.

Young adults with . . .