- First study of its kind shows benefits of providing medical insurance to poor, By Gina Kolata, July 7, 2011, New York Times: “When poor people are given medical insurance, they not only find regular doctors and see doctors more often but they also feel better, are less depressed and are better able to maintain financial stability, according to a new, large-scale study that provides the first rigorously controlled assessment of the impact of Medicaid. While the findings may seem obvious, health economists and policy makers have long questioned whether it would make any difference to provide health insurance to poor people. It has become part of the debate on Medicaid, at a time when states are cutting back on this insurance program for the poor. In fact, the only reason the study could be done was that Oregon was running out of money and had to choose some people to get insurance and exclude others, providing groups for comparison…”
- Medicaid makes ‘big difference’ in lives, study finds, By Julie Rovner, July 7, 2011, National Public Radio: “As high-level budget talks drag on in Washington, the Medicaid program for the poor remains a prime candidate for cuts. In recent months, Republicans have criticized Medicaid for badly serving its target population. But a new study – the first of its kind in nearly four decades – finds that Medicaid is making a bigger impact than even some of its supporters may have realized. The study, being published as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, has a distinctly bipartisan flavor. Among its authors are Katherine Baicker of Harvard, who was an economic adviser to President George W. Bush, and MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, who has advised the Obama administration…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty