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Access to affordable healthcare for low-income Americans has become a preeminent policy concern in the US. Even though the expansion of Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) has been able to provide health insurance coverage for most children from low-income families, the actual realization of health services still depends on the affordability and convenience of effective healthcare. It has been well documented that Medicaid access can lead not only to better health, but also to more stable household finances and higher educational attainment and earnings. However, inadequate access to primary care services among low-income families may preclude individuals from realizing these benefits, which would make the roughly $86 billion the US spends on Medicaid for children less effective.
Given the large and persistent disparity across the socioeconomic distribution in academic achievement, healthcare access, and health status, Michael F. Lovenheim, Randall Reback, and Leigh Wedenoja analyzed educational and health data to study how primary care healthcare services affect important life outcomes among youth from low-income families....