A new Harvard University study claims that the expansion of health insurance coverage in Massachusetts appears to help reduce deaths, saying Obamacare may save lives soon as it becomes available nationwide.
The Massachusetts health insurance law appears to have prevented around 320 deaths per year. The study showed that the mortality rate drop was around twice as large for Latinos and nonwhites as for whites.
Based on latest HSPH (Harvard School of Public Health) study, one life out of every 830 people who had insurance under the Massachusetts' healthcare reform law in 2006 was saved. Death rates in Massachusetts were measured and yielded positive results compared to similar places all over the country after the state guaranteed its residents with health coverage in 2006.
The research team compared the mortality rates in Massachusetts with states that have comparable socioeconomic status, ages and health insurance rates prior to 2006 but did not expand insurance coverage. During the time period when Massachusetts' death rate dropped, the rates in these states did not change.
The study suggests that the 2006 health law resulted to positive effects. After the 2006 healthcare reform, Massachusetts had a 57 percent reduction in the number of uninsured people compared to other New England states. It also saw a 22 percent decline in people who delayed healthcare because of cost and a 13 percent drop in people who said they had no usual source of care such as a family physician. The number of people who said their health got worse in the previous year was five percent less.
"Our results suggest that health insurance matters a lot for people's lives," assistant professor at Harvard University School of Public Health Benjamin Sommers said. "It makes it easier for them to get the care they need, they feel better about their health and they live longer. The evidence is mounting that giving people health insurance that didn't have it before makes a major difference in their lives."
The deaths caused by preventable illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, infections and cancer also saw a larger drop than deaths that could not have been aided by health insurance such as violence, suicides and accidents. There was a five percent decrease in the mortality rate due to preventable causes.
