US states which took Obamacare saw more cancer screening

US states which expanded Medicaid insurance coverage to low-income adults as part of Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law saw a marked increase in colorectal cancer screening, a new study said yesterday Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed excluding skin cancers, according to the American Cancer Society, and its rates have been growing among younger people in recent years for reasons that are unclear.

The paper, which appeared in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, estimated that if socalled non-expansion states had experienced the same increase in screening that was recorded in early adopter states, an additional 355,184 people would have been covered.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” was enacted in 2010 and provided federal support for states to expand Medicaid insurance coverage to low-income adults. Five states and the District of Columbia were very early adopters and expanded Medicaid eligibility in 2010−2011.