Medicaid Makes 'Big Difference' In Lives, Study Finds

[Lasher]

Source: NPR

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.

<snip>

The (study) findings are dramatically at odds with the storyline coming from critics of the program.

"Medicaid Is Worse Than No Coverage At All," blared a headline on the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal back in March.

Scott Gottlieb, a physician and resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and author of that column, says now that it overstates his opinion. But he does say there's a substantial body of academic work that shows people on Medicaid fare worse than those with private insurance.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/07/137658189/medicaid-makes-big-difference-in-lives-study-finds

---

If there are problems with Medicaid, they can all be solved by a little more funding.

[xchrom]

1. tax the rich, end corporate welfare, cut the MIC and end the wars.

that's all i want to hear.

if that's not what a politician wants to do and in particular a president -- the likelihood that i will vote for them is small.

[Demeter]

2. +million--exactly

[SpiralHawk]

3. + billion

eom

[OhioChick]

16. I agree 100% n/t

[No Elephants]

20. But, wars are our best jobs program.

[ejpoeta]

4. people on medicaid faring worse may be due to certain things.

i have had medicaid. in fact two of my kids are on it right now. i have three kids. one is on child health plus and two are on medicaid. and my husband and i are on family health plus. i was on medicaid at one time also. the problem with medicaid is that so few doctors take it. you are treated differently than others as well. and maybe that affects the kind of care you receive. but as to it being worse than no insurance? i have had no insurance as well and i can say that the way you get treated when you have no insurance is even worse than with medicaid. so.... i must guess that whoever said that medicaid is worse than no insurance has never had the no insurance and i'd wager probably never had medicaid either.

[PatSeg]

8. Also, people on Medicaid

could be faring worse than people with private insurance, because they are POOR. Poor people often can't afford a healthy lifestyle, which could lead to more illness.

As you said, few doctors will take Medicaid so preventative medicine would be inadequate, sometimes nonexistent. Saying that people on Medicaid are faring worse than people with private insurance is like saying poor people have fewer cars and TVs than rich people.

I have had Medicaid too and I'm quite sure it saved my life - I've found that live people generally are faring better than dead ones.

[ejpoeta]

12. exactly. they said that people on medicaid fared worse than no insurance at all.

and i would say that is bullshit. no insurance will get you the treat em and street em treatment at an ER quicker than the drive thru at a mcdonalds. but you are right regarding medicaid vs private insurance. poor people tend to not eat as healthy. mac and cheese used to be 25 cents a box at aldis... went up to 35 cents a box. not the healthiest. but it is cheap. feeds four people. throw in a bag of broccoli and voila. you've got dinner. definitely helped me with my depression. i could go to counseling. It makes me mad because people take their insurance for granted. They think it will just be there. And they think medicaid is somehow just some lazy welfare thing. I pay for my insurance and I pay for yours. Well, why is it that we don't demand medicare for all! Universal single payer insurance!! A basic right. It is just maddening!!!

[Gormy Cuss]

19. You're not the only one saying it's bullshit. So are the NBER researchers

mentioned in the link. Hell, even the person who original said it was worse than nothing at all has backpedaled.

I doubt that any of us who have had to rely on Medicaid would call it worse than no insurance at all. It was much better than the catastrophic-only coverage I've had in times when I couldn't afford an individual plan.

[ejpoeta]

24. now that is true. at least if you have no insurance you could try to get some assistance help from

the hospital. when we had my last daughter, she had no insurance so they wiped out the bill for her. not me. i had high deductible insurance and so had a nice bill. no help there. so I hear you. I thank you for your reply.

[PatSeg]

26. When I had private insurance,

the out-of-pocket expenses drove me to bankruptcy. I can't believe what has happened to health care in this country. There was a time when hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and health insurance were all nonprofit. Historically medicine was never meant to be a "business", it was a profession.

Now patients are looked upon as customers and sadly some of us "customers" just aren't profitable.

[iwishiwas]

5. Of course it does. Try living without it if you do not have health insurance. We

have a bunch of just plain mean folks in authority who are cutting this lifeline.

[Downwinder]

6. I would not be here now if it were not for Medicaid. Of course it

can be argued whether that is a positive or negative.

I will not argue that health care is a right, but I will argue that Health and Education are National Security issues. A healthy and educated population is vital to our existence as a nation.

[No Elephants]

21. It is the moral obligation of a government of a wealthy nation.

And, yes, we are a wealthy nation.

[calimary]

28. Um... gee... kinda sounds like you're talking "...promote the general welfare..." stuff

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_preamble.html

I've ALWAYS maintained that THIS, TOO, is National Security. Absolutely and utterly!

How can we as citizens feel secure when many of us are tossing and turning at night, worrying about whether we'll keep the roof over our heads, or food in our stomachs from week to week? How secure can you feel when you pretty sure there might be something seriously wrong with you but you can't afford to go to the doctor? How secure can anyone feel when they know they're one paycheck away from living in their cars - assuming they can even afford a car payment, at least? How secure can an American mom or dad feel when she or he is fearful of losing a job, or fearful of never finding another job, or fearful that a child won't be covered if there's a serious injury or sickness - that befalls the child OR the parent? When you've got wolves at the door all the time, how the hell can you ever feel secure as a citizen of this nation? Yes, THIS TOO, is national security. You bet your sweet ass it is! And a precious few in this nation enjoy all of that and fantastically more - already sufficiently well-off that they don't NEED much more (but they still crave and covet it), while vast majorities struggle to make it day-to-day.

It's just stunning what's happened in this country - mainly because of the 30-year "project" to reprogram the public to believe in, and support, things that are contrary to their own best interests. The "gospel" of ayn rand has been allowed to metastasize like a cancer in all that time. It's spread unchecked until only recently when our side has sort of begun to fight back, after snoozing and becoming flabby over that 30-year period.

This "Country FIRST" crowd that's behind it all, that just "LOVES" the Constitution (certainly more than YOU do), is anything but.

[Steerpike]

7. It's all double talk!

"But he does say there's a substantial body of academic work that shows people on Medicaid fare worse than those with private insurance".


People on Medicaid fare worse than those on Private Insurance? Of course that is true! People with Private Insurance on the Majority have much more money...and those with much more money have better outcomes than people with limited resources...

What is not spoken in this position is that people on Medicaid have vastly better outcomes than people who have no healthcare at all...

Bullshit argument from evil assholes...

[Lasher]

14. Exactly right.

You pay some asshole at a think tank to write something to make Medicaid look bad, and this is what you get.

Congress and the States have been busy for decades underfunding this program. Then these bastards say, 'Nobody can get a doctor to see them if all they have is Medicaid.' That's a lie, but there is some reluctance to accept Medicaid in some areas because it pays less than Medicare and other insurance. Now the ones who made it that way are saying it is a bad program because this is so.

We have become a corrupt and heartless nation, to even be considering such a thing: Victimization of the most helpless among us to protect tax cuts for the most affluent, and perpetuate massive funding for their bloated 'defense' industry scam. I never thought I'd see such a thing in my lifetime.

[zalinda]

15. Actually, for working class people

Medicaid might be better than private insurance. When you factor in all the co-pays and reduced drug costs, people who are living paycheck to paycheck, probably are 'saving' their private medical insurance for something 'big'. With Medicaid, on the other hand, you don't have to worry about the co-pays and such (unless your state mandates a $5 co-pay), you'll go in when your legs swell up, or your chest feels like it's in a vise, or you've started wheezing. Going to the doctor early, not only saves lives, but will save costs down the line, and not only will it probably save the patient's life, it may very well save the people around him as well, if he has a contagious disease.

zalinda

[Steerpike]

17. that begs the question

How much money is Middle Class? Certainly some people would not qualify becouse of the amount of money they make.

[zalinda]

18. Someone recently gave this definition

Middle class is if you lose your job, it will take 6 months to a year before you have to worry about finances. Working class is if you lose your job and it takes only a week or two before you start to panic.

zalinda

[ejpoeta]

25. at $42k in NY we qualify for family health plus as adults with our kids

qualifying for child health plus and 2 kids for medicaid. and my husband does have access to health insurance through his job. a high deductible insurance with a $2500 per person deductible or it might be more.

[Steerpike]

27. Yikes!

42k a year for a family of 4 is not really middle class is it? Especially in NY...

[Downwinder]

9. Universal Health Care: Can We Afford Anything Less?

http://truthout.com/universal-health-care-can-we-afford-anything-less/1309629951

[EC]

10. His base line is to compare with "private insurance" which

Medicaid people cannot afford. What's the point? Is he saying that since it's not as good as private they should get nothing instead of making it better?

[Spacemom]

11. I was on medicaid

For the prenatal care and birth of my first child. I had amazing care and a beautiful delivery.

5 years later I had BC/BS for the prenatal and birth of my second child. Horrible service, rude doctors, problems with this bill or that bill and where to go, etc.

Medicaid is not the horror people make it out to be.

[ejpoeta]

13. Nope. It isn't. I had it for 2nd pregnancy and 3rd child. The biggest problem is

finding doctor who will take it. My doctor did accept it. I still go to her. I didn't have any problems myself. Two of my kids have it now. They go to the same doctor. She does everything. Family doctor. Biggest problem I have encountered had to do with finding a dentist. My husband has continued with dental through work for $5/mo and we just use that for our dental.

[No Elephants]

22. Medicaid helps. Film at 11.

DUH

[Lasher]

23. Yeah, no kidding.

But the thing is, this counters the wingnut propaganda: 'Medicaid doesn't help anybody, so let's get rid of it.'

Astonishing, how some GOP claims aren't in the same galaxy as truth.