A new study found that the increase in the number of insured Americans as a result of the Affordable Care Act has resulted in increased utilization of primary health care services.

According to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, primary care utilization rose 3.8 percent, mammograms 1.5 percent, HIV tests 2.1 percent, and flu shots 1.9 percent over a three-year period.  The study suggests that preventive care increased between 17 and 50 percent.

The study attributes all of the gains to improved access to private insurance and none to Medicaid expansion.

These results are based on self-reported information gathered from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Learn more about these and other study findings in the National Bureau of Economic Resarch report  “Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Behaviors after Three Years” or see this summary on the Healthcare Dive web site.