Changes in Health Care Workers’ Economic Outcomes Following Medicaid Expansion

Abstract

ImportanceThe extent to which changes in health sector finances impact economic outcomes among health care workers, especially lower-income workers, is not well known.ObjectiveTo assess the association between state adoption of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion—which led to substantial improvements in health care organization finances—and health care workers’ annual incomes and benefits, and whether these associations varied across low- and high-wage occupations.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsDifference-in-differences analysis to assess differential changes in health care workers’ economic outcomes before and after Medicaid expansion among workers in 30 states that expanded Medicaid relative to workers in 16 states that did not, by examining US individuals aged 18 through 65 years employed in the health care industry surveyed in the 2010-2019 American Community Surveys.ExposureTime-varying state-level adoption of Medicaid expansion.Main Outcomes and MeasuresPrimary outcome was annual earned income; secondary outcomes included receipt of employer–sponsored health insurance, Medicaid, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.ResultsThe sample included 1 322 263 health care workers from 2010-2019. Health care workers in expansion states were similar to those in nonexpansion states in age, sex, and educational attainment, but those in expansion states were less likely to identify as non-Hispanic Black. Medicaid expansion was associated with a 2.16% increase in annual incomes (95% CI, 0.66%-3.65%; P = .005). This effect was driven by significant increases in annual incomes among the top 2 highest-earning quintiles (β coefficient, 2.91%-3.72%), which includes registered nurses, physicians, and executives. Health care workers in lower-earning quintiles did not experience any significant changes. Medicaid expansion was associated with a 3.15 percentage point increase in the likelihood that a health care worker received Medicaid benefits (95% CI, 2.46 to 3.84; P < .001), with the largest increases among the 2 lowest-earning quintiles, which includes health aides, orderlies, and sanitation workers. There were significant decreases in employer–sponsored health insurance and increases in SNAP following Medicaid expansion.Conclusion and RelevanceMedicaid expansion was associated with increases in compensation for health care workers, but only among the highest earners. These findings suggest that improvements in health care sector finances may increase economic inequality among health care workers, with implications for worker health and well-being.