Calling it the “welcome mat effect,” researchers noted that the 2006 Medicaid expansion in Massachusetts prompted a 16.3 percentage point increase in Medicaid enrollment of low-income parents who were eligible even without the looser criteria. Participation of Medicaid-eligible individuals without private coverage spiked 19.4 percent in the same year, according to the study.
The decision to expand Medicaid should consider two factors more heavily, researchers recommended. “First, the eligible but uninsured constitute a substantial share of the uninsured population in some states. Second, the newly eligible population will affect states’ Medicaid caseloads and budgets,” according to the study’s abstract.
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