Key clinical point: There is an association between Medicaid expansion and lower rates of cardiovascular mortality, but no definitive causal link has been established.

Major finding: Counties in expansion states had 4.3 fewer deaths from cardiovascular causes per 100,000 residents per year after Medicaid expansion, compared with counties in nonexpansion states.

Study details: In this longitudinal, observational study from 2010 to 2016, researchers used a difference-in-difference approach with county-level data for adults from 48 states (excluding Massachusetts and Wisconsin) and Washington, D.C., who were aged between 45 and 64 years. The county-level data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Online Data for Epidemiologic Research mortality database.

Disclosures: Dr. Khatana is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Two authors reported relationships with drug companies outside of the reported study; the rest of the authors had no disclosures to report.