Quote:
Originally Posted by Willard
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/338/8/513
Note that table 5 controls for "the child's age, sex, race, family income, family structure, family size, region of residence, the population density of the area of residence, and several measures of health status."
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Ok lets start by saying that this is only for kids. I dont know what your level of training is but if you critically appraise this very very old article you will note that it doesnt measure any outcome differences in kids. If you are a med student perhaps someone told you that the annual "school" physical is a complete waste of time and money. There have been NO studies showing that this has any impact on healthcare outcomes. Do not believe that more care is necessarily better care.
I looked at table 5 and I didnt see anything related to "measures of health status". All that article shows is that people SAID they would go to the doctor more if they had insurance.
Lastly, you may or may not know that basically ANY child can be seen by a doctor for almost no money. There are tons of underutilized programs and just about every state would cover every child in that state. The issue is that parents dont take the time to apply for these programs.
So the article you cite is weak evidence at best and it doesnt address my previous points.