More young adults are using certain types of preventive care since the Affordable Care Act, sometimes called "Obamacare," went into effect in the United States, according to a new study.
Significant increases were seen in the numbers of 19- to 25-year-olds getting preventive care, including routine checkups, blood pressure measurement and dental care between 2009 and 2011-12, the study found.
"Although our study is an early evaluation, there are benefits to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) extended-benefits provision," said lead author Xuesong Han, director of surveillance and health services research at the American Cancer Society.
Since 2010, the health-reform law has allowed grown children to stay on their parent's health insurance plan until they turn 26.
After the law went into effect, the percentage of young adults getting dental checkups increased almost 6 percent, according to Han. The number of young people having their blood pressure checked went up almost 4 percent and routine checkups increased by nearly 5 percent, compared with young adults before the provision went into effect, she said.
There was, however, not much change in the number of young adults who got flu shots or women who got Pap tests for cervical cancer, Han's team found.
[For more of this story, written by Steven Reinberg, go to http://medicalxpress.com/news/...dults-obamacare.html]
Comments (0)