The War on Poverty’s Experiment in Public Medicine: The Impact of Community Health Centers on the Mortality of Older Americans

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By Martha Bailey and Andrew Goodman-Bacon

This paper uses the rollout of the first Community Health Centers (CHCs) to study the longer-term health effects of increasing access to primary care. Within ten years, CHCs are associated with a reduction in age-adjusted mortality rates of 2 percent among those 50 and older. The implied 7 to 13 percent decrease in one-year mortality risk among beneficiaries amounts to 20 to 40 percent of the 1966 poor/non-poor mortality gap for this age group. Large effects for those 65 and older suggest that increased access to primary care has longer-term benefits, even for populations with near universal health insurance.

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In Memoriam: Michael D. Intriligator

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Michael D Intriligator
It is with deep sadness that we mourn the death of our colleague Michael Intriligator. Once aware of the seriousness of his illness, Mike faced his prospects with the same courage, determination and equanimity that characterized his very full and productive life. Read more

Wall Street Journal featured op-ed by Lee Ohanian

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Lee Ohanian is professor of economics at UCLA, associate director at the Center for the Advanced Study in Economic Efficiency, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Edward Prescott, the 2004 Nobel laureate in economics, is professor of economics and director at the Center for the Advanced Study in Economic Efficiency at Arizona State University. Their op-ed appeared June 25 in the Wall Street Journal.Read more