Causal effects of publicly provided health insurance

In the past years several countries around the world have implemented publicly subsidized health insurance aiming at extending coverage (see a CISS report on recent reforms in the Continent here). it is expected that these programs increase access to healthcare services and reduce out of pocket payments. The Oregon Health Study implemented a randomized experiment to assess the causal effect of social health insurance on these two variables. Results are positive. You can read the note here and the academic paper here.