Current Events > the evidence that medicaid promotes work is actually stronger than I thought

(+) Yeah! (+)

I had noticed that a downward trend in labor force participation rates had reversed in my state but continued to decline for most of the states in my region (we're the only one to expand Medicaid) but correlation isn't causation. I've also seen studied from Ohio and Michigan about how Medicaid expansion recipients reported that Medicaid coverage made it easier for them to seek and maintain employment, but I'm skeptical of self-reporting like that.

However, I am reading this brief: https://www.kff.org/report-section/the-relationship-between-work-and-health-findings-from-a-literature-review-issue-brief/

A study on Montanas Medicaid expansion found a substantial increase of 6 percentage points in labor force participation among low-income, non-disabled Montanans ages 18-64 following expansion, compared to a decline in labor force participation among higher-income Montanans.18 National research found increases in the share of individuals with disabilities reporting employment and decreases in the share reporting not working due to a disability in Medicaid expansion states following expansion implementation, with no corresponding trends observed in non-expansion states.19 Additional literature suggests that access to health insurance and care promotes volunteerism, finding that the expansion of Medicaid under the ACA was significantly associated with increased volunteerism among low-income adults


6% is a really big difference with respect to labor force participation
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