Study finds more African Americans got timely cancer care after Obamacare began

New research presented in Chicago on Sunday suggests that states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act eliminated racial differences in being able to quickly start on treatment after a diagnosis of advanced cancer.

The law, known as Obamacare, allowed states to expand Medicaid eligibility and offer subsidies to help people buy health insurance.

Yale University researchers used electronic health records on 36,000 patients across the United States to gauge its impact and found that, before the law, 5% fewer African Americans were starting treatment within a month of their cancer diagnoses. In states that expanded Medicaid, that difference went away.

The resulted were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held at McCormick Place.