Title: Alan c. Monhdt The Employed Marcf Berkagan Uninsured and the Pamela J. Farley Role Of Pub?C Policy
Abstract: Although most private health insurance is obtained through the workplace, important gaps remain in the present system of employment-related coverage. National survey data reveal that more than 9 million persons with employment experience are uninsured, who, with their uninsured dependents, account for three-quarters of all persons who lack coverage. This paper examines the circumstances and characteristics of the employed uninsured, including their opportunity to secure health insurance fringe benefits, their medical care use and expenditures, and the benefits available in private insurance that is not work related. Alternative public policy responses to the problem of lack of health insurance coverage are also considered. Because the workplace is the source of 85% of all private health insurance coverage, it is usu? ally assumed that employed persons are in? sured through their employers.1 This assump? tion has subtly misdirected policy discussions about the uninsured in two ways. First, it has been incorrectly inferred that most unem? ployed persons have lost health insurance cov? erage. This contention was not supported by recent research that indicated that most of the unemployed either did not have health insur? ance to lose in the first place or had the op? portunity to retain coverage from a previous job or through the job of a spouse.2 Second, the presumption that employment leads to health insurance coverage has shifted attention away from the largest component of those without health insurance coverage, the 75% of persons uninsured throughout the year who are workers or their dependents. An appropriate policy response to the general problem of gaps in health insurance coverage must therefore consider the circumstances that cause em? ployed persons to remain uninsured for sig? nificant periods of time. In this paper we seek to redirect the policy
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot