The evidence is clear: people with Medicaid are better off than those without
“We actually have some pretty good data out of Oregon about Medicaid’s effects on health. There, researchers from Harvard tracked what happened to the winners and losers of a state lottery that offered Medicaid to 10,000 randomly selected Oregonians in 2008. This is the closest we have to a randomized trial on health insurance — the gold-standard study methodology — so it’s been a treasure trove of information for researchers. The study also gives us a pretty good picture of how exactly Medicaid impacts people’s health — and where it falls short.”