The poverty-reducing effect of Medicaid

1. The poverty-reducing effect of Medicaid NedimLjubuncic

2. Basic Overview • models the impact of Medicaid on out-of-pocket spending. • calculated Medicaid's poverty-reducing impact using the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure • Medicaid reduced out-of-pocket medical spending per enrollee from $871 to $376 per year. • Medicaid kept at least 2.6 million Americans out of poverty in 2010, making it the third-largest anti-poverty program in the U.S. • •Poverty-reducing effects of Medicaid were greatest for disabled adults, the elderly, children, and racial/ethnic minorities.

3. Introduction • Two poverty reducing effects • Mean medical out-of-pocket spending • Traditional insurance which protects people from high-out-of pocket costs

4. More about Medicaid • Provides insurance to low income individuals, persons with disabilities, pregnant women etc. • As of 2010, medicaid provided coverage to approx 54 million Americans • Benefits are generous and cover many medical services

5. Model • Propensity Scores were modeled using the following linear probability model

6. Comparing Medicare to other Programs • Estimated reduction in poverty from medicare is .7 percentage points • Medicaid is third largest poverty reducing program • Behind EITC and SNAP

7. Graph