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Key Findings

1. Uninsurance among nonelderly veterans fell by an adjusted 36 percent (3.3 percentage points) after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
2. Without the ACA, nonelderly veterans would have used about 1 percent more Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care in 2015–125,000 more office visits, 1,500 more inpatient surgeries, and 375,000 more prescriptions.
3. The American Health Care Act would increase uninsurance among veterans and demand for VA care by a greater margin than simply returning to pre-ACA levels of coverage.

As congressional debate over its future continues, the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) effects on U.S. military veterans and the impact of the ACA's possible repeal on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system have received little attention. A new study by the RAND Corporation seeks to give policymakers and the public a better understanding of connections among the ACA, veterans' insurance coverage, and demand for care from the VA health system. The RAND research team addressed two major topics to analyze the potential impact of an ACA repeal on veterans and the VA system. The study documents how health insurance coverage for nonelderly veterans (those under age 65) has changed since the ACA's major coverage provisions took effect in 2014. The study also analyzes how ACA repeal could lead to unintended consequences for the VA health care system if veterans with significant health care needs were to lose access to health coverage they had newly gained under the ACA. Estimates are provided at both the national and state levels.