Medicaid and American Indians and Alaska Natives Medicaid and American Indians and Alaska Natives

Collection: Health Policy and Services Research Series Title(s): Issue brief (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation) Author(s): Artiga, Samantha, author Ubri, Petry, author Foutz, Julia, author Contributor(s): Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, issuing body. Publication: Menlo Park, CA : Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, September 2017 Language(s): English Format: Text Subject(s): Alaska Natives Indians, North American Medicaid -- statistics & numerical data United States United States. Genre(s): Technical Report Abstract: Nearly 5 million nonelderly individuals self-identify as American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) alone or in combination with some other race, representing nearly 2% of the total nonelderly population. This brief provides an overview of the role of Medicaid and the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion for AIANs. It shows: (1) AIANs face persistent disparities in health and health care. AIANs have a high uninsured rate, face significant barriers to obtaining care, and have significant physical and mental health needs. (2) Medicaid provides coverage to more than one in four (27%) nonelderly AIAN adults and half of AIAN children. Medicaid coverage helps to fill gaps in employer-sponsored insurance for AIANs, enables AIANs to access a broader array of services and providers than they can access solely through services funded by the Indian Health Service (IHS), and provides a key source of financing for IHS and Tribal providers. (3) The ACA Medicaid expansion led to coverage gains among AIANs and increased revenue to IHS- and Tribally-operated facilities. The uninsured rate for nonelderly AIANs in states that implemented the Medicaid expansion fell by twice as much (from 23% to 15% between 2013 and 2015) as the rate in non-expansion states (from 25% to 21%). In addition, the expansion increased revenues to IHS- and Tribal facilities serving AIANs as a larger share of their patients gained coverage, enhancing their capacity to provide services. Reductions to Medicaid, including loss of the expansion, could result in coverage losses for AIANs and reductions in revenue to IHS and Tribal providers, limiting access to care for AIANs. Copyright: Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information) Extent: 1 online resource (1 PDF file (8 pages)) Illustrations: Illustrations NLM Unique ID: 101717147 (See catalog record) Permanent Link: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101717147