Diet quality, risk factors and access to care among low-income uninsured American adults in states expanding Medicaid vs. states not expanding under the affordable care act

Background The Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion varies in availability across states. Purpose We compared characteristics of low-income uninsured residents in both Medicaid nonexpanding and expanding states with respect to their dietary quality, health risk factors, and access to care. Methods Data from the 2007–2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was matched with the Kaiser Family Foundation Medicaid expansion data. Bivariate and multivariate regressions were estimated to assess differences across expanding and non-expanding states. Result The non-expansion group had a lower Healthy Eating Index score (41.8 vs. 44.1, p-value = 0.006), a higher Body Mass Index (29.9 vs. 28.9, p-value = 0.032), higher obesity prevalence (41% vs. 33%, p-value = 0.007), and lower asthma prevalence (14.8% vs. 19.7%, p-value = 0.037) compared with the expansion group. Conclusions Differences across states in Medicaid coverage under the ACA may lead to widening disparities in health outcomes between expanding and non-expanding states.