Medicaid Increases Emergency-Department Use: Evidence from Oregon's Health Insurance Experiment

Abstract

Health Economy?: The intensity of arguments over social science issues often seems inversely correlated with the quantity of experimental evidence. Taubman et al. (p. 263 , published online 2 January; see the Policy Forum by Fisman ) report on the latest analysis of an ongoing controlled experiment—the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment—that seeks to identify and quantify the effects of extending health insurance coverage to a low-income adult population. A substantial increase was observed in visits to the emergency departments of hospitals, corresponding to approximately 120 U.S. dollars per year more in hospital costs.