Medicaid expansions and the insurance coverage of poor teenagers.

Abstract

This article employs a comparison group research design to examine the effects of the Medicaid expansions of the late 1990s on the insurance coverage of poor teenagers. Results suggest that the expansions were associated with a decrease in the likelihood of poor teens experiencing uninsured spells over the course of a calendar year, as measured by spending any part of the prior year uninsured and spending over half of the prior year uninsured. While the expansions were successful in increasing coverage among poor adolescents, they fell far short of facilitating near-universal coverage for this population.