Subsidizing COBRA: An Option for Expanding Health Insurance Coverage October 1, 1999 Report This paper examines a method for making health insurance more affordable to people who may lose health insurance when they lose or change jobs. A proposal for subsidizing the purchase of group health insurance through COBRA for employees and their dependents who lose their health insurance coverage when the employee…
Expansions in Public Health Insurance and Crowd-Out: What the Evidence Says October 1, 1999 Report Enactment of the Children's Health Insurance Program has been accompanied by concerns that new coverage will “crowd out” private health insurance coverage. Part of the Kaiser Incremental Health Reform Project, this paper reviews existing empirical literature on the magnitude of crowd-out and discusses implications for CHIP. Issue Paper
Incrementalism: Ethical Implications of Policy Choices October 1, 1999 Report This paper discusses ethical issues in incremental approaches to expanding health insurance coverage. Although any reduction in the number of uninsured is morally desirable, there are real moral differences between different policy options. This paper, which is part of the Kaiser Incremental Health Reform Project, examines these moral differences by…
Public Subsidies and Private Markets: Coverage Expansions in the Current Insurance Environment October 1, 1999 Report Many proposals for incremental expansion of health insurance coverage would provide subsidies for the purchase of nongroup policies. This paper assesses how subsidy options might play out in regulated or unregulated markets and explores the possible trade-off between two distinct policy goals: maximizing the absolute number of families with insurance…
The New Child Health Insurance Program: A Carefully Crafted Compromise October 1, 1999 Report This paper explores the major policy compromises embodied in the CHIP program. It focuses on two areas: the relative control of the federal and state governments over the program, and the design of the program in relation to the private, employer-based health insurance market. This paper is part of the…
Making Child Health Coverage a Reality: Lessons From Case Studies of Medicaid and CHIP Outreach and Enrollment Strategies September 30, 1999 Report Recent expansions in public health insurance for children and changes in welfare laws present states with the challenge of identifying and enrolling the large population of uninsured children in their Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). This study describes and analyzes the outreach and enrollment strategies and systems in…
Profiles of Disability: Employment and Health Coverage September 2, 1999 Report This Background Paper presents information on the disabled population, as well as alternative definitions of disability and the resulting impact on population estimates of the disabled population. In addition, this paper presents a profile of non-elderly persons with disabilities, including work status and health insurance coverage, and concludes with a…
Managed Care and Low-Income Populations: Four Years’ Experience with TennCare September 1, 1999 Report Managed Care and Low-Income Populations: Four Years’ Experience with TennCare This report updates an earlier study of Tennessee’s experience with restructuring their Medicaid programs. It is one of a series of reports from The Kaiser/ Commonwealth Low-Income Coverage and Access Project. This project examines how changes in the Medicaid program…
Managed Care for Low-Income Populations with Special Needs: The Tennessee Experience September 1, 1999 Report This report focuses on Tennessee’s experience in moving their disabled Medicaid beneficiaries into managed care.
Managed Care for Low-Income Populations with Special Needs: The Oregon Experience August 30, 1999 Report This report focuses on Oregon's experience in moving their disabled Medicaid beneficiaries into managed care. It is one of a series of reports from The Kaiser/Commonwealth Low-Income Coverage and Access Project. This project examines how changes in the Medicaid program have affected health insurance coverage and access to care for…