Hospitalization and Credit Scores Among Medicaid Beneficiaries in Louisiana

This case-control study evaluates the impact of a hospitalization on credit scores for Medicaid beneficiaries in Louisiana stratified by sex, race, and ethnicity.

Hospitalizations can impose financial hardships on families,1,2 contributing to lower credit scores3 and reducing access to credit.1 Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients may struggle more with hospitalization costs due to lower wealth compared with non-Hispanic White patients.

We evaluated the impact of a hospitalization on credit scores for Medicaid beneficiaries in Louisiana, examining effects by sex, race, and ethnicity. Louisiana is a setting well-suited for this research given that it is a Medicaid expansion state, has relatively high levels of personal debt (which inform credit scores), and has a relatively diverse population.