Low-income seniors who aged into Medicare after the Affordable Care Act’s start saw modest evidence of reduced out-of-pocket costs and health improvements, a federally funded study shows.

Supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, eight researchers analyzed the Medicare data of 2,782 people ages 65 to 68 enrolled in the government program between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2018.

They found seniors who joined Medicare after Obamacare took effect in 2010 were less likely than those who signed up before 2010 to use chronic disease medicine or report a hospital admission.

Seniors who enrolled after Obamacare also reported spending $417 less on out-of-pocket costs over two years than those who enrolled earlier.

“Insurance coverage and financial assistance should be preserved and enhanced to improve health and health care access among vulnerable middle-aged and older adults,” the researchers wrote in the study published in JAMA Health Forum.

However, the study didn’t find significant changes in health status, outpatient care visits, emergency room visits or Medicare costs from before to after the law took effect.

According to some medical experts not involved in the study, the findings confirm that Obamacare’s improved health coverage for low-income adults resulted in fewer health problems as they turned 65 and joined Medicare.

“We see that some beneficiaries are entering the Medicare program in better health and incurring less out-of-pocket spending,” said Gerard Anderson, a health policy and management professor at Johns Hopkins University.

The report comes as analysts have predicted surging prices for hospital services, medical treatment and prescription drugs will jack up the cost of health care this year at the fastest rate since Obamacare became law.

PricewaterhouseCoopers International has estimated the cost of health insurance provided by private employers will jump 8% this year.

KFF, an independent health policy think tank formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, predicted that insurers participating in Obamacare would hike premiums by an average of 7%.

It remains unclear how much of these cost surges will be passed along to seniors in the form of higher monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

Collage Group, a Bethesda, Maryland, consumer research firm, reported this week that 39% of Baby Boomers responding to a recent survey named health care costs as their top financial worry.

That was the second-biggest concern on their list after food, and much higher than younger generations who flagged medical care as a financial concern.

“Nearly a third of baby boomers report chronic health issues and a third say that treating chronic pain is a priority for them in their health,” said Jack Mackinnon, Collage’s senior director of cultural insights. “Chronic pain can be a nebulous ailment that requires a series of appointments, tests and specialists to identify and treat over time.”

• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.