Most low-income Michigan residents who signed up for the state’s expanded Medicaid program say their new health insurance helped them do a better job at work, or made it easier for them to seek a new or better job, in the first year after they enrolled, according to a new study.

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That’s on top of the positive health effects that many said their new coverage brought them, University of Michigan researchers reported at the annual research meeting of the AcademyHealth research organization.

Of the 4,090 people surveyed for the study, 80 percent had incomes below the federal poverty level, and 28 percent were out of work. All were covered by the Healthy Michigan Plan, Michigan’s Medicaid expansion program under the Affordable Care Act.

In all, 69 percent of those who had jobs said they did better at work once they had health insurance. And 55 percent of those who were out of work said the coverage made them better able to look for a job.