Among Medicaid beneficiaries examined by the New England Journal of Medicine study in Oregon, depression rates dropped by one-third — from 30 percent to 21 percent.
“This is an astounding finding — that is a huge improvement in mental health,” said Gruber, who is also an architect of Obamacare, which expands Medicaid. He said the Oregon study “suggests that the major accomplishment of insurance is to have an outsize impact on the quality of life. The most important thing the Affordable Care Act will accomplish is end the daily stress and uncertainty that face individuals who are uninsured.”