Counterproductive consequences of a conservative ideology: Medicaid expansion and personal responsibility requirements

A.M. Baker and L.M. Hunt

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, issue 7, 1181-1187

Abstract: Medicaid expansion, a key part of the Affordable Care Act, has been opposed by conservative politicians despite its fiscal and public health benefits. In response, some Republican-led states have expanded Medicaid with new reforms, including requirements for cost sharing and behavioral incentives, that promote conservative political values tied to an ideology of personal responsibility. We examine this trend using Michigan's Medicaid expansion as a case example. We explore the origins, evidence base, and possible consequences of these reforms. We argue that these reforms prioritize ideology over sound public health knowledge, deflecting attention away from the social, economic, and structural factors that influence the health of the poor, and may ultimately contribute to counterproductive public health and fiscal outcomes.

Keywords: attention; human; ideology; medicaid; Michigan; public health; responsibility; sound; cost; government; health behavior; medicaid; motivation; organization and management; politics; public policy; United States, Cost Sharing; Health Behavior; Humans; Medicaid; Michigan; Motivation; Politics; Public Policy; State Government; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303192

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2016.303192_3

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303192

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().