Expanding Medicaid-benefit eligibility to cover all people with income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line reduced Black-white disparities in preventable hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits, according to research from Rutgers University and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The analysis of state-level inpatient and ED data from 2011 to 2018 showed that such disparities fell 10 percent or more in states that expanded eligibility compared to states that continued with older, stricter requirements. Benefit expansion didn’t affect the relatively smaller disparities in preventable hospitalizations and ED visits between Hispanics and non-Hispanic white adults. The study didn’t examine disparities between white and Asian adults. To read the full story.