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CORVALLIS, Ore. -- A recent study from Oregon State University found that after Oregon expanded Medicaid in 2014, more women were able to receive insurance coverage for abortion services, rather than paying out of pocket.
In analyzing Medicaid claims data and other medical records, researchers found that the Medicaid-financed share of total abortions increased each of the first three years following the state's Medicaid expansion. The incidence of Medicaid-financed abortions increased 18% in 2014, then 7% each in 2015 and 2016.
The total number of abortions in the state did not rise; rather, the expansion shifted who paid for them.
"According to the literature, there was a 1% decline in the abortion rate in Oregon between 2014 and 2017. During the pre-expansion period women were having to pay for abortions out of pocket, which was taking a lot of money out of their incomes that could have been going to food or clothing or caring for their children," said Lisa Oakley, who co-authored the study as a postdoctoral researcher at OSU's College of Public Health and Human Services. "What the expansion of coverage did was reduce the financial burden for women in this low-income group."