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Covering America was developed to promote serious consideration
of a diverse range of comprehensive proposals to provide affordable health
coverage
for millions of uninsured Americans. The project was made possible by
a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey.
The Foundation does not endorse the findings of this or other independent
projects.
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This link is to a page of the web site of the California Health Care Foundation
that contains a useful framework and set of tools for assessing an comparing
public policy approaches to covering the uninsured. The Economic and Social
Research Institute was responsible for much of the substantive work for this
tool, as well as the accompanying analyses of a variety of prototype expansion
plans.
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More to come.
Covering America:
Real Remedies for the Uninsured, Volume 3,
is a set of four three new proposals from distinguished health analysts
who outline policy options for broadly extending health insurance coverage.
The proposals join the 13 others published in the past two years (see
below) to offer diverse and innovative ideas for enhancing discussions
about comprehensive health care coverage for all Americans. The new volume
also includes two commentaries by astute observers of the health system.
The proposals were commissioned, reviewed, and assembled by the Economic
and Social Research Institute, with a grant from The
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation's largest philanthropy
devoted exclusively to health and health care. The Foundation does not
endorse the findings of this or other independent projects.
The various chapters of the document are available
in PDF format (see list below). They can be viewed and downloaded with
Adobe Acrobat Reader by clicking on the titles below. A summary
document that includes a brief version of each proposal as well
as a side-by-side comparison is also available for downloading. The
full document (147
pages) is also available as a single file for those who have fast internet
connections. Hardcopy versions can be ordered by sending an email request
to announcements@esresearch.org
or by calling 202 833-8877 ext. 10.
Introduction and Side-by-side
Comparison
Michael Calabrese—Universal
Coverage, Universal Responsibility: A Plan to Make Coverage Mandatory
and Affordable for Individuals
Helen Ann Halpin—Getting
to a Single-Payer System Using Market Forces: The CHOICE Program
Paul A. Seltman—From
Clean Air to a Clean Bill of Health: Using Allowance Trading under the
Clean Air Act as a Model for Covering All Private-Sector Employees
C. Eugene Steuerle—A
Workable Social Insurance Approach to Expanding Health Insurance Coverage
Michael Chernew—Covering
America: A Commentary on Three Approaches
Katie Merrell—When
Worlds Collide: Public Policy, Private Markets, and the Price of
Health Insurance
Covering America:
Real Remedies for the Uninsured, Volume 2,
is the second set of proposals from distinguished health analysts who
outline policy options for broadly extending health insurance coverage.
The new volume also includes three commentaries by distinguished observers
of the health system about the challenges of achieving major coverage
expansions and how they can be addressed.
The various chapters of the document are available
in PDF format (see list below). They can be viewed and downloaded with
Adobe Acrobat Reader by clicking on the titles below. A summary
document that includes a brief version of each proposal as well
as a side-by-side comparison is also available for downloading. The
full document (125
pages) is also available as a single file for those who have fast internet
connections. Hardcopy versions can be ordered by sending an email request
to announcements@esresearch.org
or by calling 202 833-8877 ext. 10.
Introduction and Side-by-side
Comparison
David B. Kendall, Jeff
Lemieux, and S. Robert Levine--A Performance-Based Approach to Universal
Health Care
Tom Miller--Improving
Access to Health Care without Comprehensive Health Insurance Coverage:
Incentives, Competition, Choice, and Priorities
James A. Morone--Medicare
for All
Christine Ferguson, Patricia
Riley, and Sara Rosenbaum--Medicaid:
What Any Serious Health Reform Proposal Needs to Consider
Edward F. Lawlor and
Ann Dude--Mobilizing, Framing, and Leading: Three Policy Thought Experiments
for Covering America
Bruce C Vladeck--Ends
and Means in Health Insurance Policy
Covering America: Real
Remedies for the Uninsured, Volume 1, is a set of 10
proposals by distinguished health analysts to move the United States
toward universal health care coverage. The various chapters of the
document are available in PDF format (see list below). They can
be viewed and downloaded with Adobe Acrobat Reader
by clicking on the titles. A summary
document that includes a brief version of each proposal as well
as a side-by-side comparison is also available for downloading. The
full document (215 pages)
is also available as a single file for those who have fast internet
connections.
Hardcopy versions can be ordered by sending an email request to announcements@esresearch.org
or by calling 202 833-8877 ext. 10.
Introduction and Side-by-side
Comparison
Stuart M. Butler--Reforming
the Tax Treatment of Health Care to Achieve Universal Coverage
Judith Feder, Larry Levitt, Ellen O'Brien,
and Diane Rowland--Assessing the
Combination of Public Programs and Tax Credits
Jonathan Gruber--A
Private/Public Partnership for National Health Insurance
Jacob S. Hacker--Medicare
Plus: Increasing Health Coverage by Expanding Medicare
John F. Holahan, Len M. Nichols, and
Linda J. Blumberg--Expanding Health
Insurance Coverage: A New Federal/State Approach
Richard Kronick and Thomas Rice--A
State-Based Proposal for Achieving Universal Coverage
Mark V. Pauly--An
Adaptive Credit Plan for Covering the Uninsured
Sara J. Singer, Alan M. Garber, and Alain
C. Enthoven--Near-Universal Coverage
Through Health Plan Competition: An Insurance Exchange Approach
Alan R. Weil--The
Medical Security System: A Proposal to Ensure Health Insurance Coverage
for All Americans
Elliot K. Wicks, Jack A. Meyer, and Sharon
Silow-Carroll--A Plan for Achieving
Universal Health Coverage: Combining the New with the Best of the Past
Cost
and Coverage Analysis of Ten Proposals to Expand Health Insurance Coverage,
by
John Sheils and Randall Haught, The Lewin Group, October 2003.
As part
of the Covering America project, the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation commissioned the Lewin group to analyze the 10 coverage
expansion proposals
published in Volume I (see above for the proposals
themselves) and to prepare estimates of the number of people who
would be covered by public and private health insurance and the costs
of extending
coverage. The Summary
Report along with appendices of detailed cost and coverage estimates
for each individual proposal is listed below and can be downloaded
in
PDF format. Copies of the summary report can ordered from the Economic
and Social Research Institute. Also available is a document
that summarizes in narrative and charts some of the lessons of this analysis,
prepared by the Economic and Social Research Institute.
Summary
Report
"Lessons
from Cost and Coverage Analysis of Ten Proposals to Expand Health Insurance
Coverage," Elliot K. Wicks, Stan Dorn, and Jack A. Meyer
Appendices
(cost and coverage estimates by proposal)
A-Methodology
B-Reforming
the Tax Treatment of Health Care to Achieve Universal Coverage, by
Stuart M. Butler
C-Assessing
the Combination of Public Programs and Tax Credits, by Judith Feder,
Larry Levitt, Ellen O’Brien, and Diane Rowland
D-A
Private/Public Partnership for National Health Insurance, by
Jonathan Gruber
E-
Medicare Plus: Increasing Health Coverage by Expanding Medicare,
by Jacob S. Hacker
F-Expanding
Health Insurance Coverage: A New Federal/State Approach, by John
F. Holahan, Len M. Nichols, and Linda J. Blumberg
G-A
State-Based Proposal for Achieving Universal Coverage, by Richard
Kronick and Thomas Rice
H-
An Adaptive Credit Plan for Covering the Uninsured, by Mark V.
Pauly
I-Near-Universal
Coverage Through Health Plan Competition: An Insurance Exchange Approach,
by Sara J. Singer, Alan M. Garber, and Alain C. Enthoven
J-The
Medical Security System: A Proposal to Ensure Health Insurance for All
Americans, by Alan R.Weil
K-A
Plan for Achieving Universal Health Coverage: Combining the New with the
Best of the Past, by Elliot K.Wicks, Jack A.Meyer, and Sharon Silow-Carroll
Decision
Points and Trade-Offs in Developing Comprehensive Health Coverage Reforms.
This paper by Elliot K. Wicks, Ph.D., presents an overview of the range
of decisions that policy reformers must make as they develop new programs
to cover the uninsured. Many of the issues explored in this paper will
be addressed in greater detail in subsequent papers. February 2003.
Coping
with Risk Segmentation: Challenges and Policy Options.
This paper by Elliot K. Wicks, Ph.D., discusses in detail
the problem that confronts anyone proposing to extend health insurance
to various populations—how to ensure that premium costs are fairly
shared among people of high and low risk and how to make certain that
sicker people are not priced out of the insurance market. The paper presents
the range of possible solutions to the issues raised. February 2003.
Options
for Financing Health Coverage Expansion This paper by
Jack A. Meyer, Ph.D., and Elliot K. Wicks, Ph.D., discusses
issues to be considered when policymakers decide how to finance new coverage
programs, including the differences between budgetary and social costs,
criteria for choosing a financing source, and various sources for funding.
April 2003.
Building
Quality Improvement into Health Coverage Expansion Proposals.
This paper by Jack A Meyer and Sharon Silow-Carroll presents a number
of quality improvement tools and strategies that could be built into the
full range of proposals to expand health coverage. The paper shows how
health care purchasers—public and private—could use better
information systems, financial incentives, and quality measurement against
standards to improve health outcomes as we expand health care coverage.
March 2003.
History
and Primer on Cost Containment Efforts and
Implications for Future Prospects. This paper by Elliot
K. Wicks examines the cost containment strategies that have been used in
the last 25 years
and assesses their success. April 2004.
Tax Credits for Individual
Health Insurance--Effects on Employer Coverage and Refinements to
Improve Overall Coverage Rates, Occasional Paper No.
2, August 2002, by Rick Curtis and Ed Neuschler, Institute for Health
Policy Solutions.
Prospects for a
Reduction in the Number of Uninsured Americans, Occasional
Paper No. 1, December 2001, by Elliot K. Wicks and Jack A. Meyer
Health Insurance
for Laid-Off Workers: A Time for Action. Current Policy
Series, #5. February 2003, by Lynn Etheredge and Stan Dorn.
 more
CURRENT POLICY SERIES
PAPER #4: Nine Billion Dollars a Year to Cover the Uninsured: Possible
Common Ground for Significant, Incremental Progress.
Current Policy Series, #4. October 2002, by Stan Dorn and Jack A.
Meyer
more
ISSUE
ALERT: Health Coverage for Laid-off Workers: Searching for Common
Ground, Issue Alert No. 3, May 2002, by Stan Dorn and
Jack A. Meyer
 more
ISSUE ALERT: What health coverage
would laid-off workers obtain under recent tax credit proposals?, Issue
Alert No. 2, March 2002, by Stan Dorn and Jack A. Meyer
Pros and Cons of Stimulus
Package Options for Promoting Health Insurance Coverage, Issue
Alert No. 1, November 2001, by Elliot K. Wicks, Jack A. Meyer, and
Todd Kutyla.
Incremental
Coverage Expansions Are Not the Best Answer for the Uninsured. Todd
Kutyla and Elliot K. Wicks argue that the interests
of the uninsured would be better served by concentrating efforts on finding
the political will to support policies that will lead to univerasal coverage
rather than spending so much effort on incremental policies that do not
solve the problem and even make comprehensive solutions less likely.
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