Low Income Health Insurance

Why do people buy health insurance? Conventional theory holds that people purchase insurance because they prefer the certainty of paying a small premium to the risk of getting sick and paying a large medical bill. Conventional theory also holds that any additional health care that people purchase when they are insured is of such low value that it is not worth the costs of providing it. As a result, economists have promoted policies, such as cost sharing and managed care, to reduce consumption of this "low-value" care. This book presents a new theory of consumer demand for heath insurance. It holds that people purchase insurance to obtain additional "income" when they become ill. In effect, insurance companies take the premiums paid by those who remain relatively healthy and transfer them to those who come down with a serious disease. This additional income often allows sick persons to obtain medical care that they may not otherwise be able to afford. The value of health insurance, therefore, stems largely from the value of the additional health care that insurance makes possible, and has little, if anything, to do with preferences for certainty. Because its value lies largely in providing access to necessary health care, health insurance is held to be much more valuable under the new theory than the old. The new theory also implies that cost sharing and managed care -- central health policies of the last 30 years -- were largely directed at solving problems that did not exist. Because these policies either reduced the "income" transferred to ill persons or limited access to additional health care, they may have done more harm than good. The new theory suggests that insurancecoverage should be extended to the uninsured. It also provides a solid theoretical justification for implementing some form of national health insurance. The new theory emphasizes three constraints.

Perhaps the most glaring failure of the American mixed public/private health care system is that millions, including many of the most vulnerable, go without health insurance. In Running in Place, Eliot Fishman analyzes the various means-tested health insurance initiatives instituted at the state level since the 1960s and finds that, while there have been successes, on the whole these programs have never come close to fulfilling expectations regarding increasing the numbers of low-income people enrolled or their access to mainstream health providers.Fishman argues that such state-administered measures, modeled on Medicaid, the oldest and largest of the programs, will not bring the nation close to the goal of universal coverage. At the same time, sweeping reforms that have been proposed, such as a federally administered single-payer plan, are not feasible given the current political atmosphere in Washington. Steering between these two poles -- retaining the decentralizing features of the Medicaid model that make it popular while increasing its effectiveness -- will require that the federal government assume more of the fiscal burden even as states continue to run their own programs. More people will be covered if enrollment becomes automatic, with eligibility verified retrospectively, and the appeal of such programs will increase if they are broadened to include working families who are having trouble finding affordable insurance.

Comprehensive health insurance (Maine) - In June of 2003, the Maine, USA Legislature passed a comprehensive health insurance plan, granting low-cost coverage available to all state residents by 2009. Through a semi-private agency, the state will provide coverage to uninsured residents, small businesses and municipalities and the self-employed.

Medicaid - Medicaid in the United States is a program managed by the states and funded jointly by the states and federal government to provide health insurance for individuals and families with low incomes and resources. Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with limited income.

Free clinic - A free clinic is a medical facility offering community healthcare on a free or low-cost basis. Care is generally provided to persons who have lower or limited income and no health insurance.

Social health insurance - Broadly speaking, health care systems across the world are funded in three different ways: by private contributions, social health insurance contributions or taxes. Social health insurance systems are characterized by the presence of sickness funds which usually receive a proportional contribution of their members' wages.

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Low Income Health Insurance - Low Income Health Insurance Trusting Medicine Does your relationship with your doctor really affect your health? How does declining patient trust lead to poor health outcomes?Healthcare systems in much of the western world are in distress: costs are high, patients, healthcare providers low income health insurance and insurers are disgruntled. The US low income health insurance and European countries have very different systems, although both have high health expenditure with seemingly low outcomes low income health insurance and unequal access. ...

Health Income Individual Insurance Low - Health Income Individual Insurance Low Epidemic of Care Health care premiums in the U.S. are escalating from twelve to twenty percent a year? with no end in sight. The impact of those cost increases on both employers health income individual insurance low and employees will be huge. Workers will see a direct cut in their take-home pay. Millions will lose health insurance coverage completely. Senior citizens on fixed incomes will be hit particularly hard, as premiums for their Medicare ...

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