Louisiana Governor's Office issued the following announcement on June 12.
Thanks to Gov. Edwards’ decision to expand Medicaid, Louisiana’s uninsured rate dropped faster than that of other states, making Louisiana an outlier while coverage stalled nationwide, a new report notes.
Gov. Edwards said:
“Time and time again, research has shown that Medicaid expansion has improved the lives of Louisianans by offering people the coverage they need to improve their health and well-being, ” Gov. Edwards said. “Since the expansion, nearly 69,000 women have been screened for breast cancer and hundreds of thousands of people have received the care they need to lead healthier lives. I’m proud of the work we’ve done to improve Louisiana’s uninsured rate. But most importantly, I’m proud that we’re saving lives because of the Medicaid expansion.”
From The Advocate:
“The gains in health insurance coverage Louisiana experienced after expanding Medicaid three years ago—leading to about half a million people getting coverage—made the state an exception to a national trend of stalling or even eroding insurance coverage.”
“A new report from the Commonwealth Fund, a New York health care think tank, shows Louisiana’s drop in uninsured from 2016 to 2017 came as 16 other states experienced upticks of at least one percentage point in their uninsured rates. Low-income people made the largest gains in health coverage in Louisiana, as Medicaid expansion drove down the state's uninsured rate.”
“The new report shows Louisiana's expansion came at a time when more than half of states simply held onto earlier gains in insurance coverage. Louisiana was "one notable exception" from the trend, the authors wrote, experiencing a 3 percentage-point drop in its adult uninsured rate—from 15% to 12% from the end of 2016 to the end of 2017. “
Original source can be found here.