How Medicaid Fails the Poor

Medicaid, America’s government-run health insurance program for the poor, should be a lifeline that provides needed health care to Americans with no other options. Surprisingly, however, it doesn’t. The medical literature reveals a $450 billion-a-year scandal: that people on Medicaid have far worse health outcomes than those with private insurance, and no better outcomes than those with no insurance at all.

Why is this so? In How Medicaid Fails the Poor, Avik Roy explains how Medicaid’s clum...