A constant complaint about Medicaid is that fewer healthcare providers take patients on public insurance programs, and the resulting quality of care suffers.
The facts, however, tell a different story. According to the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey nearly all Medicaid (95%) and private coverage patients (94%) have a regular source of health care. The quality of care (rated excellent or very good) is higher for Medicaid patients (55%) than for those with private insurance (53%).
Unfortunately, uninsured people are severely disadvantaged in both respects. Only 77% of those without insurance have a regular source of health care. And only 40% of uninsured rate their care as excellent or very good, compared to 55% of those with Medicaid.
Those with private insurance are slightly better able to schedule a same day or next day medical appointment (58%) compared to those on Medicaid (53%) or uninsured (43%). But those on Medicaid have physicians and physician staff who know their medical history; 86% for those on Medicaid compared to 84% for those with private insurance and 77% of the uninsured.
Those who oppose expanding Medicaid, as provided in the Affordable Care Act, use these myths to support their arguments. But the facts tell us that the right choice, the only moral choice, is to extend Medicaid coverage to the hundreds of thousands who fall into the Coverage Gap, where working Americans who don’t currently qualify for Medicaid and whose income is too low to participate in the new health insurance marketplace.
Jon M. Bailey is a rural policy and research expert and former Center for Rural Affairs Policy and Research Director. Contact him at [email protected].
1 Comment
EXACTLY.
Myths, fearmongering, buzzwords, and outright lies are political capital. Facts? Tsk, tsk!
People who continue to push the deceit don’t need the truth. They don’t believe that climate change is real, but they do believe in fairy tales. They think the Earth is young, but go to museums to look at dinosaur bones and love diamonds, anyway. They want to slash SNAP funding, which mostly feeds children, the elderly, and folks with disabilities…but wear bracelets that are imprinted with WWJD? They may not believe that peanut allergies are real, but probably think that spanking toddlers might cure “all of this Autism nonsense.” I know far too many myth-bearers who use phrases like “wifely duties,” and “boys don’t cry,” and hate immigrants, but just love tracing their family roots to distant lands! Facts will never slow them, because they just double down on the lies in which they are so deeply invested. Doesn’t everyone have bootstraps?
I read this article with great interest, earlier: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/the-4-kinds-of-people-who-dont-vaccinate-their-kids/409027/
Access to healthcare for things like vaccines is absolutely necessary. I doubt anyone that is old enough to remember the scourge of polio would argue against the need for vaccines. Quality healthcare is essential to a prosperous society, in every way. Facts matter, and please bust more myths!
Here’s one…”compassionate conservatism.”
Or, the notion that “fiscal responsibility” means no social programs.