A new study in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine finds that poor Americans in states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare have better access to medical care they need. 

The researchers have been surveying poor residents of Arkansas and Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid, and Texas, which did not. 

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The conclusion: 

In the second year of expansion, Kentucky’s Medicaid program and Arkansas’s private option were associated with significant increases in outpatient utilization, preventive care, and improved health care quality; reductions in emergency department use; and improved self-reported health. 

“Our study suggests that coverage expansion…can produce substantial benefits for low-income populations,” the researchers wrote. 

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