Now that as many as 6.4 million low- and middle-income Americans across 34 states have health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act, it’s worth asking this question: When does health insurance turn into actual health?
It’s a legitimate question because the impact of health insurance on health has been shown to be less impressive than we might wish. At least one study out of Massachusetts, for instance, has demonstrated reductions in mortality associated with insurance status, while other studies out of Oregon show only modest reductions in mental health disease burden. So how much health have we really gained nationwide from the ACA’s insurance expansion? It remains to be seen.
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