Louisiana’s uninsured rate drops dramatically after Medicaid expansion, survey finds

Aug. 20--The number of adults in Louisiana without health insurance has dropped dramatically since the state expanded Medicaid two years ago, a new report has found.

The Louisiana Health Insurance Survey released Monday found 11.4 percent of non-elderly adults in the state did not have health insurance in 2017 -- down from 22.7 percent uninsured in 2015.

Under Medicaid expansion, which took effect July 2016 by Gov. John Bel Edwards' executive order, more than 473,900 non-elderly adults have received health care coverage.

"Through Medicaid expansion, we are bringing our federal tax dollars back to Louisiana to save lives and improve health outcomes for the working poor people of our state," Edwards said in a statement Monday. "Not only are we saving hundreds of millions of dollars and creating thousands of jobs because of expansion, we are also saving lives by having more people insured."

The biennial Health Insurance Survey was conducted by researchers at LSU.

The survey found that among adults aged 19-64 more than half received coverage through their employer. About 20.8 percent have Medicaid coverage.

About 87 percent of respondents indicated they did not delay care at any point in the prior 12 months.

Nearly 54 percent of children in Louisiana with health caer coverage are on the state's Medicaid rolls. About 28,000 children, or 2.4 percent, had no insurance.

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