Center for Policy Research
Policy Brief
How Did Healthcare Affordability Change for U.S. Adults with Intellectual Disability After the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act?
Nastassia Vaitsiakhovich
C.P.R. Policy Brief No. 3
May 2023
Individuals with intellectual disabilities are marginalized in the United States and have worse health outcomes than their peers without disabilities. Lower socioeconomic status and a reliance on social welfare benefits and public health insurance programs often create barriers to access to care. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to make healthcare services more accessible.
This brief summarizes the findings from a recent study that examined patterns in healthcare affordability under the ACA or noninstitutionalized adults ages 18-64 with intellectual disabilities.
The findings suggest that the ACA increased the likelihood that adults with intellectual disabilities would access medical, specialty, dental, and mental health services but did not increase use of care related to eyeglasses and prescription drugs.
CPR Policy Briefs present concise summaries of findings from recent research conducted by CPR affiliates in the areas of crime and the law, economic wellbeing and poverty, education, energy and the environment, families, health, public finance, social welfare, urban and regional economics, and other policy-relevant domains.