Recent Findings from University of Pittsburgh Advance Knowledge in Managed Care (Medicaid’s role in critical care after Medicaid expansion: evidence from Virginia): Managed Care

2026 JAN 07 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx Policy and Law Daily -- Current study results on Managed Care have been published. According to news reporting out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Medicaid provides access to care for low-income patients facing life-threatening illnesses who are cared for in intensive care units (ICUs). Despite the growth of Medicaid coverage with the Affordable Care Act, little is known about Medicaid’s role in critical care for the Medicaid Expansion population, adults ages 19-64.”

Financial supporters for this research include National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Pittsburgh, “Using hospital discharge data from Virginia, we examined payer composition between 2016 and 2023 and analyzed 2023 demographic and clinical data for adults ages 19-64. Medicaid’s share of ICU stays more than doubled from 2016 (14.1%) to 2023 (31.8%). While only 25.6% of Medicaid hospitalizations involved ICU care, these stays account disproportionately for charges (51.7%), hospital days (36.9%), and readmissions (32.3%). Common reasons for admission include potentially preventable conditions: sepsis, diabetes, heart failure, and alcohol use. Medicaid patients, despite being younger than their commercially insured counterparts, have more comorbidities (4+ comorbidities: 49.9% vs 38.9%) and are more likely to be readmitted in adjusted models (29.7% [95% Confidence Interval: 29.1-30.4] vs 24.3% [95% Confidence Interval: 23.6%-25.1%]).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This work demonstrates the crucial role of Medicaid as a payer for seriously ill adults and the need for increased attention by Medicaid programs to ICU patients before, during, and after hospitalization.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Medicaid’s role in critical care after Medicaid expansion: evidence from Virginia. Health Affairs Scholar, 2025;3(12).

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Kristina E. Rudd, Dept. of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States. Additional authors for this research include Sarah J. Marks, Chethan Bachireddy, Julie M. Donohue, Derek C. Angus, Theodore J. Iwashyna and Andrew J. Barnes.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxaf224. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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