ACA Medicaid Expansions, Violent Crime, and Recidivism
Open Access
Author:
Klimachefsky, Sylvia
Area of Honors:
Criminology
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
David M Ramey, Thesis Supervisor Stacy Silver, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
violent crime recidivism healthcare criminology
Abstract:
This thesis examines the relationships between Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansions, violent crime rates, and 3-year recidivism rates. While there have been several studies that have examined the impact of Medicaid expansion on violent and property crime rates, this research aims to further knowledge by analyzing recidivism rates in relation to states that have expanded Medicaid access versus states that chose not to expand access. The present study used data from the Kaiser Family Foundation for Medicaid expansion information from the year 2014 to 2019. Additionally, violent crime data was gathered from the Uniform Crime Report collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and recidivism data was obtained from the State Recidivism Comparison report by the Statistical Analysis and Forecast Unit of Virginia under the Department of Corrections. The results of this study do not indicate statistically significant relationships between Medicaid expansions and violent crime or recidivism rates. The study possessed multiple limitations due to a small sample size and further research is necessary to assess the implications of healthcare and crime.
