News on government healthcare

The study, released last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at the impact, after two years, of Oregon's decision to expand Medicaid in 2008. Because the state didn't have enough funding to expand the program to everybody who wanted to apply, lawmakers held a lottery for potential applicants. This provided a unique opportunity for researchers to compare a random sample of 6,387 low-income adults who were able to enroll in the program with 5,842 who were not selected. Researchers found that those who enrolled in Medicaid spent a lot more on medical care than those who weren't able to enroll, but didn't significantly improve their health physical outcomes. The Oregon study "did not find significant changes in visits to the emergency department or hospital admissions" when comparing the uninsured population to those who received Medicaid.

So, if a citizens engages in multiplier less than one activities with government, the citizen loses money. Wadya know!