Studies favorable to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have suggested the health law has brought a number of economic benefits, particularly for low-income Americans.
But beyond health care coverage through Medicaid and subsidized private plans to millions who were previously uninsured, a new study highlights the effect of the law on the pocketbooks of America's poor.
An analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago found that those who gained Medicaid coverage through the PPACA saw their debt decline by an average of $600 to $1,000.
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"Health insurance, like any type of insurance, is first and foremost a form of financial protection," study co-author Robert Kaestner of the University of Illinois at Chicago said to the Washington Post. "It is a real benefit."
Medical bills are by far the most common form of unpaid bills in the country, so it makes sense that providing near-free health coverage to a certain population would have a dramatic effect on personal debt.
Getting more people enrolled in Medicaid or private insurance through the PPACA marketplace has also likely reduced the amount of uncompensated emergency room care incurred by hospitals.
Interpreting the overall economic effect of the PPACA is a tricky business, and studies that have sought to assess its impact on the economy often reach very different conclusions that are often tied to the political leanings of the researchers. There has been considerable debate, for instance, over whether the law has encouraged people to leave the workforce and whether that is necessarily a harmful trend.
The same study from the Chicago Fed showed that the health law has benefited the poor financially did not produce strong evidence that its beneficiaries are healthier as a result of the expanded coverage. But the study authors suggested that such an effect may take a while to become apparent in data.
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