Understanding the Medicaid Expansion's Potential Under the Affordable Care Act to Address the Unmet Behavioral Health Treatment Needs of Ethnic Minority Populations

Background: Medicaid was expanded under the Affordable Care Act to provide insurance coverage for everyone with incomes below 138% of the Federal Poverty Line; behavioral health coverage is included as an essential benefit with behavioral health-physical health parity. Yet more than 20 states have rejected Medicaid expansion. This presentation will (i) document the consequences of the failure to expand Medicaid on ethnic minority populations' unmet need for treatment; (ii) project minority-white disparity reduction if Medicaid expansion were universally accepted and (iii) discuss expert advisor and policy analysis input in shaping questions and disseminating information.

Methods: Estimates from National Survey of Drug Use and Health supplemented with other data sources. Advisor meetings to refine questions and formulate dissemination strategy.

Findings: African Americans are concentrated in non-expansion accepting states, and disparities would decline appreciably with full expansion. Latinos and Asian Americans would benefit more if means were found to bring coverage to undocumented immigrants.

Implications: Expanding insurance coverage can help reduce ethnic minority's noteworthy unmet need for behavioral healthcare treatment.