Author Archives: Mike Herman

Followup: Medicaid Probably Does Improve Health Outcomes After All

Mother Jones

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I’ve now read the new study of the Oregon Medicaid experiment, as well as some additional commentary on it, and I think some of the results are important enough that they deserve a new post, not just updates to the previous post.

In a nutshell, Oregon held a lottery a few years ago in which some people received Medicaid coverage and others didn’t. Today’s study is a two-year followup, and the headline result is that “Medicaid coverage generated no significant improvements in measured physical health outcomes.” But it turns out that “significant” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, and the headline is extremely misleading.

In fact, the study showed fairly substantial improvements in the percentage of patients with depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high glycated hemoglobin levels (a marker of diabetes). The problem is that the sample size of the study was fairly small, so the results weren’t statistically significant at the 95 percent level.

However, that is far, far different from saying that Medicaid coverage had no effect. It’s true that we can’t say with high confidence that it had an effect, but the most likely result is that it did indeed have an effect. The table below shows the point estimates. Note also that in all cases, the use of prescribed medication went up, in some cases by a lot.

Bottom line: It’s more likely that access to Medicaid did improve health outcomes than that it had zero or negative effects. It’s just that the study was too small to say that with certainty. For laymen, as opposed to stat geeks, the headline result of the Oregon study was “Possibly positive but inconclusive,” not “Had no effect.”

UPDATE: Even if they’re real, are these results worth the money spent? That’s a different question, and there’s just no way to answer it with this study. That would require a much larger, longer-term research project.

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Followup: Medicaid Probably Does Improve Health Outcomes After All

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Why Not Start A Vegetable Garden? Here’s Some Reasons Why

I’ve been vege gardening for many years, it’ is normal for me to use several hours a month applying maintenance to the vege patch or tending to the pot plants on the verandah.For your self this might not be the case,you may be browsing the web with dreams of starting your first garden but are without ideas when it comes to how to do it and not quite convinced of all the benefits.Are you in need of persuasion that beginning a vege garden is worth your valuable time, then check out this article…

Fresh veges are the best Do you often visit a supermarket wondering how old the food is being sold? Has anyone told you that it is normal today to pick produce before it has the chance to ripen then spray it with chemicals when it is ready to go on the shelves of your your local grocer? The answer to that is to purchase organic, but how would you know it is indeed organic and how would you possibly know how old it is? Solution, grow your very own food, that way you know exactly how it has been grown and you will only harvest when required, visualise eating your fruits and veges hours prior to it have been picked!

Reduce you food bill With increasing inflation manipulating the price of food and job security decreasing wouldn’t it be nice to slash your family’s food cost while enjoying fresh, quality food? Better quality fruits and veges for a heavily reduced price, seems pretty obvious. A sachet of seeds is inexpensive and will generate a lot of food over time..

Protect the environment Modern agriculture causes a lot of pollution with chemical runoffs as well as man made fertilizers ruining the soil. You will not only be doing yourself a favour but you will be protecting the planet and setting a good example for your offspring.

Your diet needs more variety Most food stores only sell a couple different variety’s of each fruit or vegetable, there are many unique types of each, some you may have never even heard of, so do your self a kindness and add something different to your diet!

Socialise It is getting more and more popular having community gardens where everyone chips in and shares the result of their hard work, it is a great opportunity to make friends with some like minded individuals and expand your social circle.

Be healthy Why eat food that is riddled with chemicals? G.M foods have been proven to have a direct link to cancer similar to preservatives, pesticides, fungicides etc. It is much better for your health and your taste buds to consume fresh organic produce.Think about the health of not only you but your friends and loved ones as well.

Wouldnt you like more flavoursome food? Most people know that fresh tastes better but did you also know that organic vegetables also have more taste?Don’t just just believe me, start gardening now and realise for your self!

Make a difference Think about this, with one less person buying the toxic produce big corporations are selling us, that is less funds in their pockets. If consumers ceased buying then they would be forced into selling some proper food. Most people dont realise this but it is the consumer that controls the market place. So it is about time to take back your power and start making your own food!

Helps you stay in shape Digging around in the garden can be slightly strenuous but that is beneficial because most of us now a days are deficient proper exercise. Don’t forget the clean air and sunlight (vitamin D) you will be exposed to as well..

If you are interested in organic gardening then visit this site; http://howtostartavegetablegarden.org

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