Oregon HIE Study - Grade: A PDF

Preview

Summary

Oregon Health Experiment Study Essay...

Description

February 9, 2021 Econ 418 – Health Economics The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment was a research study taking place in 2008 that aimed to identify how the expansion of Medicaid in the state of Oregon impacted uninsured lowincome adults. Approximately 90,000 uninsured individuals between the ages of 19 and 64, who were either legal immigrants or US citizens in Oregon, enrolled their names on a waiting list to be given the opportunity for a spot in the Medicaid program. The framework of this study was a randomized controlled design and thus, the state opted to choose individuals by lottery. Officials were unable to afford coverage for all individuals who applied for enrollment in the program and would need to select a certain number of individuals to partake in the experiment. In order to compare the results of the treatment group, the officials would need to have a control group within the experiment as well. To ensure none of the results have been corrupted, a randomized design like a lottery system would be most efficient in selecting which participants would be allocated to which groups. Within this experiment, the treatment group is comprised of the individuals selected by the lottery who were able to apply for Medicaid while the control group comprised of the people who were not selected and not eligible to apply. For the individuals in the treatment group, the benefits they received from this program were impressive. According to the article, the OHP Standard covered “physician services, prescription drugs, all major hospital benefits, mental health and chemical dependency services (including outpatient services), hospice care, and some durable medical equipment” (Finklestein, et.al, 2008). This program was able to offer free-of-cost insurance and comprehensive benefits to low-income adults that would typically cost about $3,000 on the OHP Standard. After receiving these benefits, the experiment was able to conclude that the individuals selected to attain

Medicaid were 25% more likely to have health insurance a year after the experiment. After having access to insurance, these individuals continued to utilize health care services and take preventative care for their wellbeing. The results show declines in out-of-pocket expenses and debts while there are increases in hospital and drug utilization. In terms of financial strain, the outcomes do not suggest a decline in financial strain across the give measures of strain analyzed in the data set. But the researchers were able to conclude that health insurance has some correlation to a decline in collections on healthcare and medical debts. The data collected from surveys indicated a decrease in the unpaid medical bills and the credit report data denoted a decline in medical collections. The adults within the treatment group also had better self-reported health compared to the control group that was not able to apply for Medicaid. The data states that there was an average of two-tenths of a standard deviation improvement in self-reporting physical and mental health for individuals with insurance. Overall, the data from this experiment leads to the conclusion that providing underprivileged individuals with access to free healthcare will correlate to higher health care utilization, diminished medical related financial strain, and improved self-reported mental and physical health in comparison to individuals without this opportunity....