Improvement in Preventive Care of Young Adults After ACA

This original research article, Improvement in Preventive Care of Young Adults After the Affordable Care Act: The Affordable Care Act Is Helping, by researchers in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine investigated how the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act affected young adults’ rates of insurance and receipt of preventive services.

Using data Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the authors identified modest, but significant increases in young adults’ rates of insurance and receipt of routine healthcare visits, blood and cholesterol screening, and annual dental visits between 2009 and 2011. The analysis suggests that increased receipt of preventive services was due in part to the greater insurance coverage. These findings support decades of research on the importance of insurance in improving access to care and provide early evidence that the ACA has led to modest increases in receipt of preventive services in the year following implementation.

To view the abstract, please click here.