Increasing Health Insurance Coverage in the First Year of Life

Objectives: To determine the proportion of infants who are uninsured and the sociodemographic characteristics of their mothers, including prenatal and post-partum insurance coverage, in order to identify strategies to increase infant health coverage. Methods: Data from the 2001 California Maternal and Infant Health Assessment (MIHA) were analyzed. MIHA is a cross-sectional survey of a statewide representative sample of 3,475 postpartum women. We calculated the proportion of uninsured infants overall and by several maternal characteristics. Adjusted and unadjusted odds ratios for infant uninsurance are reported. Results: In the overall study sample, 8.7% of infants were uninsured. Low-income infants were significantly more likely to be uninsured than infants in households with incomes above 200% of the federal poverty level (13.7% vs. 2.5%). The mother's prenatal and post-partum health coverage, her age, and family income were associated with an increased risk of infant uninsurance after adjustment for other maternal characteristics. A large majority of the uninsured infants (88.1%) were living in low-income families. The mothers of 60% of the uninsured infants were enrolled in Medicaid during the pregnancy. Conclusions: Approximately 14% of California's low-income infants were uninsured at the time of the survey despite being income-eligible for Medicaid. The proportion of uninsured infants could potentially be reduced by more than one-half through strategies to provide 12 month continuous enrollment of infants with federally mandated Medicaid eligibility for the first year of life.     

Conceptualising the Lack of Health Insurance Coverage

This paper examines the lack of health insurancecoverage in the US as a public policy issue. It first comparesthe problem of health insurance coverage to theproblem of unemployment to show that in terms of thenumbers of individuals affected lack of healthinsurance is a problem comparable in importance to theproblem of unemployment. Secondly, the paperdiscusses the methodology involved in measuring healthinsurance coverage, and argues that the current methodof estimation of the uninsured underestimates theextent that individuals go without health insurance. Third, the paper briefly introduces Amartya Sen'sfunctionings and capabilities framework to suggest away of representing the extent to which individualsare uninsured. Fourth, the paper sketches a means ofoperationalizing the Sen representation of theuninsured in terms of the disability-adjusted lifeyear (DALY) measure.     

全民健康覆盖的内涵及我国推进全民健康覆盖的策略选择

世界卫生组织提出全民健康覆盖的内涵在于全社会每个人公平的享有其应享有的服务,重点关注的是服务的利用及风险保护。全民医保不是全民健康覆盖,我国当前全民覆盖的医疗保障体系只是实现全民健康覆盖的制度工具,以促进居民卫生服务的利用,不能保障每一位居民都能利用到其应享有的服务,解决居民服务利用的公平性问题。全民健康覆盖中的健康服务还包括公共卫生服务、健康促进等。我国全民健康覆盖的发展应依托现有的基本医疗保障体系,在促进服务利用的同时关注弱势群体的服务利用,正确评估改革,重点关注服务利用的困难群体。     

Early Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Health Insurance Coverage of Young Adults

Research Objective

To evaluate one of the first implemented provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which permits young adults up to age 26 to enroll as dependents on a parent''s private health plan. Nearly one-in-three young adults lacked coverage before the ACA.

Study Design, Methods, and Data

Data from the Current Population Survey 2005–2011 are used to estimate linear probability models within a difference-in-differences framework to estimate how the ACA affected coverage of eligible young adults compared to slightly older adults. Multivariate models control for individual characteristics, economic trends, and prior state-dependent coverage laws.

Principal Findings

This ACA provision led to a rapid and substantial increase in the share of young adults with dependent coverage and a reduction in their uninsured rate in the early months of implementation. Models accounting for prior state dependent expansions suggest greater policy impact in 2010 among young adults who were also eligible under a state law.

Conclusions and Implications

ACA-dependent coverage expansion represents a rare public policy success in the effort to cover the uninsured. Still, this policy may have later unintended consequences for premiums for alternative forms of coverage and employer-offered rates for young adult workers.     

Health Insurance and Health Status: Exploring the Causal Effect from a Policy Intervention

Whether health insurance matters for health has long been a central issue for debate when assessing the full value of health insurance coverage in both developed and developing countries. In 2007, the government‐led Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) program was piloted in China, followed by a nationwide implementation in 2009. Different premium subsidies by government across cities and groups provide a unique opportunity to employ the instrumental variables estimation approach to identify the causal effects of health insurance on health. Using a national panel survey of the URBMI, we find that URBMI beneficiaries experience statistically better health than the uninsured. Furthermore, the insurance health benefit appears to be stronger for groups with disadvantaged education and income than for their counterparts. In addition, the insured receive more and better inpatient care, without paying more for services. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

居民可承受商业健康保险市场空间与覆盖领域——基于四川数据的案例分析

目的:通过对基本医疗的理论界定确定基本医疗保险和商业医疗保险覆盖范围,通过测算可承受的医疗费用标准,估算四川省可承受的商业保险费用总额方法:居民经济承受能力与医疗负担均衡模型,y₁=a₂+b₁/(x+c₁),y₂=a₂-b₂/(x+c₂),居民商业健康保险费用空间估算模型。结果:基本医疗卫生服务和非基本医疗服务界定可由居民经济承受能力,需求层次和技术的适宜性等属性区分;四川省有63%的人群具有购买商业保险的能力,可能具有的市场空间为1810亿元结论:相对现有百亿级的商业健康保险市场,四川省商业健康保险市场空间巨大,拓展这一市场的策略是做好特需服务领域和高新技术服务领域的保险产品设计。     

The American Community Survey and Health Insurance Coverage Estimates: Possibilities and Challenges for Health Policy Researchers

Objective. To introduce the American Community Survey (ACS) and its measure of health insurance coverage to researchers and policy makers.
Data Sources/Study Setting. We compare the survey designs for the ACS and Current Population Survey (CPS) that measure insurance coverage.
Study Design. We describe the ACS and how it will be useful to health policy researchers.
Principal Findings. Relative to the CPS, the ACS will provide more precise state and substate estimates of health insurance coverage at a point-in-time. Yet the ACS lacks the historical data and detailed state-specific coverage categories seen in the CPS.
Conclusions. The ACS will be a critical new resource for researchers. To use the new data to the best advantage, careful research will be needed to understand its strengths and weaknesses.     

Immigrants and Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance

Objective. To investigate the factors underlying the lower rate of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage for foreign-born workers.
Data Sources. 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation.
Study Design. We estimate probit regressions to determine the effect of immigrant status on employer-sponsored health insurance coverage, including the probabilities of working for a firm that offers coverage, being eligible for coverage, and taking up coverage.
Data Extraction Methods. We identified native born citizens, naturalized citizens, and noncitizen residents between the ages of 18 and 65, in the year 2002.
Principal Findings. First, we find that the large difference in coverage rates for immigrants and native-born Americans is driven by the very low rates of coverage for noncitizen immigrants. Differences between native-born and naturalized citizens are quite small and for some outcomes are statistically insignificant when we control for observable characteristics. Second, our results indicate that the gap between natives and noncitizens is explained mainly by differences in the probability of working for a firm that offers insurance. Conditional on working for such a firm, noncitizens are only slightly less likely to be eligible for coverage and, when eligible, are only slightly less likely to take up coverage. Third, roughly two-thirds of the native/noncitizen gap in coverage overall and in the probability of working for an insurance-providing employer is explained by characteristics of the individual and differences in the types of jobs they hold.
Conclusions. The substantially higher rate of uninsurance among immigrants is driven by the lower rate of health insurance offers by the employers of immigrants.     

Health Insurance Coverage of the Children of Immigrants in the United States

Objectives: This study assesses the health insurance coverage of children of immigrants in the United States and variations among immigrant groups. Method: The study uses data from the March supplements of the 1994 and 1996 Current Population Survey to compare health insurance coverage of children who report foreign parentage. Separate logistic regressions are conducted to estimate the likelihood of being covered by any insurance, public insurance, and private insurance. Results: 27.3% of all children of immigrants are without health insurance, 34.1% are on public insurance, and 44.3% have private insurance. Foreign-born children who have not yet become U.S. citizens are the most likely to be without health insurance (38.0%). Many of these children are not covered because their parents are unable to find jobs that provide coverage and Medicaid fails to enroll as many of them as possible. Overall, the children's chances of being covered by any health insurance vary little according to when their parents came to this country. However, children of recent immigrants are more likely to rely on public health insurance (40.1% vs. 24.8%) and less likely to be covered through private sources (36.8% vs. 60.6%) than those of established immigrants. Among immigrant groups, children of Haitian (48.4%) and Korean (45.3%) immigrants are at the highest risks of being uninsured. Both children of the Dominican Republic (65.9%) and Laos (83.3%) report high rates of public insurance coverage. Conclusions: Greater disparity in health insurance coverage among children of immigrants is expected once the new welfare reform bills take effect. In particular, noncitizen children, children of recent immigrants, illegal immigrants, and Dominican Republican immigrants will be affected most. Efforts aimed at reducing the harm should target these vulnerable groups.     

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Self-Rated Health Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Despite increased attention to health disparities in the United States, few studies have examined the impact of socioeconomic inequalities on self-rated health over time. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, this article investigates socioeconomic inequalities in self-rated health among middle-aged and older adults. The findings indicated that higher level of income, assets, and education, and having private health insurance predicted better self-rated health. In particular, increases in income or assets predicted slower decline in self-rated health. Interestingly, economic status had greater impact on females' decline in self-rated health. Blacks were less likely to suffer rapid decline in self-rated health than were whites. The findings led to the conclusion that health disparities should be understood as the interplay of socioeconomic status, gender, and race/ethnicity.     

Continuity of Health Insurance Coverage for Children with Special Health Care Needs

Objectives: To assess the continuity of health insurance coverage and its associated factors for children with special health care needs (CSHCN). Methods: Logistic regression and proportional hazard models were estimated on monthly insurance enrollment for 5594 children in the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. CSHCN were identified using a non-categorical approach. Stratified analyses were conducted to determine whether any characteristics differentiated the effects of CSHCN status on children's coverage. Results: In 1996, more than 8% of CSHCN were uninsured for the entire year. For those who were insured in January 1996, 14% lost their coverage by December 1996. CSHCN were more likely than other children to be insured (92% vs. 89%), mainly due to their better access to public insurance (35% vs. 23%). Conversely, CSHCN were less likely than other children to stay insured if they were school-aged, non-Hispanic White, from working, low-income families or the US Midwest region. Higher parental education improved health insurance enrollment for CSHCN, whereas higher family income or having activity limitations protected them from losing coverage. Regardless of CSHCN status, being publicly insured was associated with a higher risk of losing coverage for children. Conclusions: Despite increased health care needs, a considerable proportion of CSHCN is unable to access or maintain coverage. Compared to other children, CSHCN are more likely to have coverage but no more likely to stay insured. Improving continuity of coverage for publicly insured children is needed, especially CSHCN who are more likely to obtain their coverage through public programs.     

The impacts of the State Children's Health Insurance Program on children who enroll: findings from ten states

OBJECTIVE: Examine the extent to which enrollment in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) affects access to care and service use in 10 states that account for over 60 percent of all SCHIP enrollees. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Surveys of 16,700 SCHIP enrollees were conducted in 2002 as part of a congressionally mandated study. Three domains of SCHIP enrollees were included: (1) children who were recently enrolled in SCHIP, (2) those who had been enrolled in SCHIP for 5 months or more, and (3) those who had recently disenrolled from SCHIP. Response rates varied across states and domains but were clustered between 75 and 80 percent. Five different types of indicators were examined: (1) service use; (2) unmet need; (3) parental perceptions about being able to meet their child's health care needs; (4) presence and type of a usual source of care; and (5) provider communication and accessibility. STUDY DESIGN: The experiences SCHIP enrollees have while on the program are compared with those a separate sample of children had before enrolling using a separate sample pretest and posttest design, controlling for observable characteristics of the children and their families. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: The sample was drawn based on a list frame of SCHIP enrollees. The survey was administered in English and Spanish, by Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI). Field follow-up was used to locate families who could not be reached by telephone and these interviews were conducted by cellular telephone. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: SCHIP enrollment was found to improve access to care along a number of different dimensions, other things equal, particularly relative to being uninsured. Established SCHIP enrollees were more likely to receive office visits, preventive health and dental care, and specialty care, more likely to have a usual source for medical and dental care and to report better provider communication and accessibility, and less likely to have unmet needs, financial burdens, and parental worry associated with meeting their child's health care needs. The findings are robust with respect to alternative specifications and hold up for individual states and subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Enrollment in SCHIP appears to be improving children's access to primary health care services, which in turn is causing parents to have greater peace of mind about meeting their children's needs.     

Health Care Reform in Massachusetts: Implementation of Coverage Expansions and a Health Insurance Mandate

Context: Much can be learned from Massachusetts's experience implementing health insurance coverage expansions and an individual health insurance mandate. While achieving political consensus on reform is difficult, implementation can be equally or even more challenging.
Methods: The data in this article are based on a case study of Massachusetts, including interviews with key stakeholders, state government, and Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority officials during the first three years of the program and a detailed analysis of primary and secondary documents.
Findings: Coverage expansion and an individual mandate led Massachusetts to define affordability standards, establish a minimum level of insurance coverage, adopt insurance market reforms, and institute incentives and penalties to encourage coverage. Implementation entailed trade-offs between the comprehensiveness of benefits and premium costs, the subsidy levels and affordability, and among the level of mandate penalties, public support, and coverage gains.
Conclusions: National lessons from the Massachusetts experience come not only from the specific decisions made but also from the process of decision making, the need to keep stakeholders engaged, the relationship of decisions to existing programs and regulations, and the interactions among program components.