New Orleans   There are now some thirty states that have expanded eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. There are twenty states – and a lot of the Republican Congress — that are still dragging their wagons through the dirt, and, if researchers are right, putting their people under the ground as well.

Researchers connected with Harvard’s Public Health School conducted an important experiment. They surveyed people in Kentucky and Arkansas before Medicaid expansion in 2013, again after the first full year in 2014, and finally at the end of 2015 with another year under peoples’ belts. They used Texas as the so-called control state for comparison, since Texas refused to budge on the Obamacare Medicaid expansion for lower-income, working families. Bottom line: 5% more people in Arkansas and Kentucky, too very different states with different approaches on the expansion, felt that they were in “excellent” health compared to do-nothing-much Texas.

Reading about the researchers work on the Harvard Public Health website and its lead author, Dr. Benjamin Sommers, an assistant professor there, offered a good summary that goes deeper than 5%:

Sommers and colleagues surveyed approximately 9,000 low-income adults in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Texas from late 2013 to the end of 2015. The results showed that, between 2013 and 2015, the uninsured rate dropped from 42% to 14% in Arkansas and from 40% to 9% in Kentucky, compared with a much smaller change in Texas (39% to 32%). Expansion also was associated with significantly increased access to primary care, improved affordability of medications, reduced out-of-pocket spending, reduced likelihood of emergency department visits, and increased outpatient visits. Screening for diabetes, glucose testing among people with diabetes, and regular care for chronic conditions all increased significantly after expansion. Quality of care ratings improved significantly, as did the number of adults reporting excellent health.

Debate over? Of course not. Many will wonder, and wait, until larger studies, including the government’s own, provide more data on whether or not people really are healthier or just feel healthier.

Regardless, how people feel may not answer the medical questions fully, but could start to provide answers for the political questions. As we find every day, particularly in the Age of Trump, people vote on how they feel, not based on the facts of the matter. If everything were equal, politicians would see that the trend line of how people feel about their own health and Medicaid expansion is now improving annually. If it continues along these lines, politicians will start playing “duck and cover” which might mean more expansion in the twenty holdout states.

There’s a big “if” though. These same politicians would actually have to care about the poor families that are the beneficiaries of Medicaid expansion, and believe, regardless of the evidence, that they vote, and that some of these poor are their voters.

It might be easier to deliver better healthcare than to convince elected officials of the value of the poor and their votes.