Groundbreaking Oregon study shows differences of Medicaid enrollment

A first-of-its-kind study of Medicaid enrollees in Oregon has lead researchers to conclude that when low-income people are given health coverage, they find regular doctors, report feeling better, are less depressed and have greater financial stability (Source: “First Study of Its Kind Shows Benefits of Providing Medical Insurance to Poor,” New York Times, July 7, 2011).

Among the findings in the first one-year phase of the study were that those with Medicaid:

• Accounted for 25 percent more in medical expenditures
• Were 35 percent more likely to go to a clinic or see a doctor
• Were 70 percent more likely to have a usual source of care
• Were 25 percent more likely to report their health as “good or execellent”

One the other hand, the study found that after one year, the two groups showed no difference on several significant indicators, including emergency room usage and morbidity. That led Megan McArdle, the business and economics editor for The Atlantic, to write that the study does not conclusively prove that enrollment in Medicaid equals improved health.

“Every time a new study comes out, people on both ends of the political spectrum are quick to seize on it as proof of their prior beliefs,” McArdle wrote. “But in this area, the proof is usually messy.  It rarely tells us exactly what we wanted--and expected--to hear.”