The Effect of Medicaid on Crime: Evidence from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment
利用俄勒冈健康保险实验的随机分配，研究发现医疗补助覆盖对刑事指控或定罪没有统计上显著的影响，即使在有前科或精神健康问题的高风险群体中也如此。
Abstract Those involved with the criminal justice system have disproportionately high rates of mental illness and substance-use disorders, prompting speculation that health insurance, by improving treatment of these conditions, could reduce crime. Using the 2008 Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, which randomly made some low-income adults eligible to apply for Medicaid, we find no statistically significant impact of Medicaid coverage on criminal charges or convictions. These null effects persist for high-risk subgroups, such as those with prior criminal cases and convictions or mental health conditions. In the full sample, our confidence intervals can rule out most quasi-experimental estimates of Medicaid’s crime-reducing impact.