How Private Health Coverage Works: A Primer – 2008 Update
How Private Health Coverage Works: A Primer— 2008 Update This primer explains the role and operations of private health coverage in the United States.
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Health Affairs Article: Comparing the Assets of Uninsured Households to Cost Sharing Under High Deductible Health Plans
Issue BriefHealth Affairs Article: Comparing the Assets of Uninsured Households to Cost Sharing Under High Deductible Health Plans Relatively few uninsured households have enough financial assets to cover the cost-sharing in consumer-driven health plans tied to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), according to this study by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers published as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive on April 15,…
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How Non-Group Health Coverage Varies With Income
ReportWith some federal and state policy makers considering ways to encourage more people to purchase non-group, or individual, health care coverage, this new analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers examines how often people at different income levels buy such coverage when they do not have access to employer coverage or do not obtain public coverage.
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Characteristics of Frequent Emergency Department Users
ReportThe increased use of U.S. hospital emergency departments has received considerable attention from both the health care community and policymakers in recent years. This analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the demographic and health characteristics of people who frequently visit the emergency room to help understand why their utilization is so high.
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Snapshots: How Changes in Medical Technology Affect Health Care Costs
Issue BriefHealth expenditures continue to grow very rapidly in the U.S. Since 1970, health care spending has grown at an average annual rate of 9.8%, or about 2.5 percentage points faster than the economy as measured by the nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Annual spending on health care increased from $75 billion in 1970 to $2.
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Health Affairs Article: Impact of State Tort Reforms on Physician Malpractice Payments
Issue BriefA study in the March/April 2007 issue of Health Affairs analyzes the impact of state tort reforms on physician malpractice claims. The study finds that the tort law changes have had a measurable but limited impact on physician malpractice claims, depending on the type and strength of the tort reform.
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Snapshots: Effect of Tying Eligibility for Health Insurance Subsidies to the Federal Poverty Level
Issue BriefConsiderable attention has been paid in recent years to the rapid growth of health insurance premiums and its impact on coverage affordability. Premium growth has far outpaced growth in workers earnings, which means that workers have to spend more of their income each year on health care to maintain current coverage levels.
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Snapshots: Insurance Premium Cost-Sharing and Coverage Take-up
Issue BriefOne of the many reasons an individual may be uninsured is that she or he decides an employer’s offer of health insurance is too expensive. Several studies have noted the likelihood that a worker will decline an employer’s offer of health insurance increases with the amount he or she is required to contribute.
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Snapshots: Illustrating the Potential Impacts of Adverse Selection on Health Insurance Costs in Consumer Choice Models
Issue BriefA current strategy for addressing the cost of health insurance involves consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs).
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The Role of Consumer Copayments for Health Care: Lessons From the RAND Health Insurance Experiment and Beyond
ReportThe appropriate level of cost-sharing for patients remains a key issue in designing both private and public health insurance. This report reviews the groundbreaking RAND Health Insurance Experiment from the 1970s to offer insights into current policy debates about appropriate cost-sharing levels.