New Study Finds Medicaid Coverage Comparable to Private Insurance

Researchers of The Commonwealth Fund discovered that 95% of individuals with Medicaid coverage over the past year had a regular doctor and 55% of this population reported receiving excellent or very good care. These numbers mirrored what the researchers found when studying the individuals with private insurance—53% of the privately insured population who also had a regular doctor reported good care.

However, only three-quarters of the individuals who were either uninsured during the past year or experienced a time period without coverage reported to have regular doctors and even less of this population claimed to have received good care.

The researchers examined the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey, 2014, for their report, studying and comparing the responses of adults aged 19 to 64 years who were either enrolled in Medicaid coverage, a private insurance plan, or who were not insured at all. The report controlled for differences in numerous variables including income, race, and gender in order to adequately assess the effects of healthcare coverage.

“Medicaid provides millions of Americans with health insurance, and it is important to track how that insurance is working for them,” Sara Collins, Vice President for Health Care Coverage and Access at The Commonwealth Fund, said in a statement. “These results indicate that on many measures Medicaid works nearly as well as, and sometimes better, than private insurance and is helping people get and afford the care they need.”

In addition to examining patient-reported experiences, the report analyzed preventive-care measures and cost-related access issues among the 3 populations of health coverage.