Study Finds Autistic Medicaid Enrollees Face 14-Year Life Expectancy Gap

A large study of U.S. Medicaid beneficiaries has found that autistic individuals have a life expectancy 13.8 years shorter than the general population, with excess mortality driven by largely preventable causes. The research, published in JAMA Network Open, analyzed data from more than 2 million people with autism enrolled in Medicaid across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., from 2000 through 2020. The study, led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, estimated the life expectancy at birth for Medicaid beneficiaries with autism at 64.9 years. This figure is 5.6 years shorter than the overall Medicaid population and 13.8 years shorter than the U.S. general population. The findings indicate that autistic Medicaid enrollees had a 44% higher mortality risk than other beneficiaries. Excess mortality was observed across most disease categories, with particularly elevated risk from influenza, malnutrition, pneumonitis, nontransport accidents, drowning, and pneumonia.