Medicaid Expansion In Montana Led To A Drop In Emergency Room Visits

After Montana Medicaid began covering the expansion population in 2016, the share of beneficiaries in this population who had an emergency department visit by 14% after two years of coverage, according to a report from Manatt Health for the Montana Healthcare Foundation. Following the year one data set-point, emergency department visits decreased by 8% after two years of coverage and by 13% after three years of coverage among people with mental health or addiction disorders.

In 2016, Montana's Medicaid expansion enrollees included more than 105,000 low-income, non-disabled, childless adults ages 18 to 64 with income . . .