Kaestner R, Joyce T, Racine A
Baruch College, New York, NY 10010, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2001 Jan;52(2):305-13. doi: 10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00133-7.
In this study we investigate the effect of Medicaid on children's health, as measured by the incidence of ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) hospitalizations in the USA. The use of ACS hospitalizations is a unique contribution of our study. ACS discharges are known to be sensitive to better primary care and greater medical intervention and are objective measures of children's health. The results of this analysis were mixed. We found relatively robust evidence that the Medicaid expansions decreased the incidence of ACS hospitalizations among children age 2-6 from very low-income areas. For other groups of children, our results were less consistent. There was some evidence, although not uniform, that the Medicaid expansions improved the health of children age 2-6 from what we refer to as near-poor areas, areas with a median family income between $25,000 and 30,000. For older children, age 7-9, we found little evidence that the Medicaid expansions improved their health.
在本研究中，我们通过美国门诊护理敏感型（ACS）住院率来调查医疗补助对儿童健康的影响。使用ACS住院率是我们研究的独特贡献。已知ACS出院情况对更好的初级保健和更多的医疗干预敏感，并且是儿童健康的客观指标。该分析结果喜忧参半。我们发现了相对有力的证据，表明医疗补助扩大降低了来自极低收入地区的2至6岁儿童的ACS住院率。对于其他儿童群体，我们的结果不太一致。有一些证据（尽管并不统一）表明，医疗补助扩大改善了来自我们所称的近贫地区（家庭收入中位数在25,000美元至30,000美元之间）的2至6岁儿童的健康状况。对于7至9岁的大龄儿童，我们几乎没有发现证据表明医疗补助扩大改善了他们的健康状况。
