Conditional Medicaid Expansion and Mental Health Outcomes in Georgia

Was the Georgia Pathways to Coverage conditional Medicaid expansion associated with changes in mental health among Medicaid-eligible adults?In this cross-sectional study with 8138 participants, Georgia’s conditional Medicaid expansion was associated with an increase in poor mental health and a higher probability of having ever been told one had a depressive disorder compared with neighboring non–Medicaid expansion states.These findings suggest that Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage expansion program may have worsened mental health among Medicaid-eligible adults, possibly through administrative and documentation burdens and uncertainty about maintaining eligibility with work requirements.

Corresponding Author: Sezen O. Onal, PhD, Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, 450 Clarkson Ave, MSC 43, PHAB 4-015, Brooklyn, NY 11203 (Sezen.OzcanOnal@downstate.edu).

Link to the article in your story

We encourage you to link out to this article in your story using the link below. It includes an access token that will give free access to the article for your readers up to one year after publication. (The link will be live after the article publishes and embargo is lifted.)

Please see the article for additional information, including full author list, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Need more information? Contact us.