3 ms·

Most studies on the topic shows that having health insurance in the US doesn't impact people's health much or at all. Everyone agrees this is counterintuitive,

Most studies on the topic shows that having health insurance in the US doesn't impact people's health much or at all. Everyone agrees this is counterintuitive, but that's been the data so far. This study adds some weight to the other side.

autoexec 5y ago
> Most studies on the topic shows that having health insurance in the US doesn't impact people's health much or at all. I can't speak to "most" having not seen all of them, but studies have shown it matters. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/24/us-healthcare-republican-bill-no-coverage-death https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/24/us-healthcar... These came up a year later: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323087/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323087/ https://news.gallup.com/poll/268094/millions-lost-someone-couldn-afford-treatment.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/268094/millions-lost-someone-co... Seems there has been some prior evidence for supporting the idea that health insurance (the only way to get affordable healthcare in the US) matters. What are examples of studies that show it has little to no impact?
lostcolony 5y ago
No no. They say -mortality- isn't affected. Like, people don't die more often without health insurance. There are all sorts of measured benefits of health insurance, quality of life, lower prevalence of medical debt, etc. It's just that a lack of it doesn't lead to people dying sooner. Which kind of makes sense; the cost even with insurance ensures people don't go to the doctor as often as they should, until something is concerning them. And if it is sufficiently concerning, even someone without insurance goes. And if it's going to prove lethal without treatment, even those without insurance will probably still get the treatment, since better to be alive and in debt the rest of their life than dead. Someone else linked https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Medicaid_health_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Medicaid_health_experim... and it's a good example; it calls out that those with coverage are less likely to have medical debt sent to a collecitons agency, which implies that those without coverage are still seeking treatment...they just are going into debt for it.
- BurningFrog 5y ago
  The Wikipedia article also says: "Approximately two years after the lottery, researchers found that Medicaid had no statistically significant impact on physical health measures"

autoexec 5y ago

> Most studies on the topic shows that having health insurance in the US doesn't impact people's health much or at all. I can't speak to "most" having not seen all of them, but studies have shown it matters. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/24/us-healthcare-republican-bill-no-coverage-death https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/24/us-healthcar... These came up a year later: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323087/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323087/ https://news.gallup.com/poll/268094/millions-lost-someone-couldn-afford-treatment.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/268094/millions-lost-someone-co... Seems there has been some prior evidence for supporting the idea that health insurance (the only way to get affordable healthcare in the US) matters. What are examples of studies that show it has little to no impact?

lostcolony 5y ago

No no. They say -mortality- isn't affected. Like, people don't die more often without health insurance. There are all sorts of measured benefits of health insurance, quality of life, lower prevalence of medical debt, etc. It's just that a lack of it doesn't lead to people dying sooner. Which kind of makes sense; the cost even with insurance ensures people don't go to the doctor as often as they should, until something is concerning them. And if it is sufficiently concerning, even someone without insurance goes. And if it's going to prove lethal without treatment, even those without insurance will probably still get the treatment, since better to be alive and in debt the rest of their life than dead. Someone else linked https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Medicaid_health_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Medicaid_health_experim... and it's a good example; it calls out that those with coverage are less likely to have medical debt sent to a collecitons agency, which implies that those without coverage are still seeking treatment...they just are going into debt for it.

BurningFrog 5y ago
The Wikipedia article also says: "Approximately two years after the lottery, researchers found that Medicaid had no statistically significant impact on physical health measures"