Flaws and all, Medicaid can improve adults’ health (NPR)

Medicaid does improve the health of those under its coverage, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study tracked more than 68,000 people for more than five years before and after three states expanded Medicaid coverage (New York, Maine and Arizona) and three states that did not expand Medicaid. The study found Medicaid expansions were associated with “a significant reduction in adjusted all-cause mortality” and decreased delays of receiving care due to cost. Critics of Medicaid have pointed out studies that indicated people had worse medical outcomes than those who didn’t have Medicaid. To this, Benjamin Sommers, lead author on the recent study says, “We know Medicaid is designed to cover the sickest of the sick. So it’s not surprising that people who have Medicaid do worse than those who don’t.”