In a continuing study, an all-star group of researchers following Ms. [Wendy] Parris and tens of thousands of other Oregonians has found that gaining insurance makes people feel healthier, happier and more financially stable. The insured also spend more on health care, dashing some hopes of preventive-medicine advocates who have argued that coverage can save money ”” by keeping people out of emergency rooms, for instance. In Oregon, the newly insured spent an average of $778 a year, or 25 percent, more on health care than those who did not win insurance.
For the nation, the lesson appears to be mixed. Expanded coverage brings large benefits to many people, but it is also more likely to increase a stretched federal government’s long-term budget responsibilities.
I think that makes some logical sense. I know my family and I have been more prone to go to the doctor or relatively minor aches, pains, and colds, knowing that I have a reasonable co-pay due to insurance than I know I would have if I had had no insurance. My wife had to take my daughter to the emergency room a few months ago after she fell and thumped her head a good one (she was fine), but it cost me almost $350+ dollars for a 20 minute visit because I have a rather large annual deductible, so none of it was covered. It was Sunday and we live in a small town, so the only medical place or clinic open on weekends is the Hospital. Had I known none of it would be covered, I doubt I would have told my wife to take my daughter to the E.R.