Universal health insurance: coming soon?
Is the political climate ready at last to address a pressing national need to provide health insurance for the uninsured? "A majority of Americans say they are worried about their ability to afford health care services and would be willing to pay higher taxes to support universal health coverage,...

Health financing reform in Kenya--assessing the social health insurance proposal.
Kenya has had a history of health financing policy changes since its independence in 1963. Recently, significant preparatory work was done on a new Social Health Insurance Law that, if accepted, would lead to universal health coverage in Kenya after a transition period. Questions of economic feasibility...

It's not an option - you have to have health insurance; Mandatory coverage for Mass. residents by Dec. 31.
Byline: Geraldine A. Collier When Kathy's husband walked out the door, he took with him his clothes, his personal belongings and his company's health insurance coverage. "The company was self-insured," she explained. "They would continue to cover the kids, but they wouldn't cover ex-wives." ...

Health care sales pitch; Insurance now a must.
Byline: John J. Monahan As the state's groundbreaking new mandatory health insurance law takes effect today, marketing programs by health care insurers and providers competing to sign up hundreds of thousands of people that currently have no insurance have moved into full swing. Their sales...

Public policy and private health insurance: distributional impact on public and private hospital usage.
Abstract Objective: To study the effectiveness of recent private health insurance (PHI) reforms, in particular the 30% rebate and Lifetime Health Cover, in terms of their stated aim of reducing the load on public hospitals. Methods: Combines the use of two new projection models--"Private Health...

The adequacy of household survey data for evaluating the nongroup health insurance market.
The individual or nongroup health insurance market has played a prominent role in recent policy discussions seeking ways to improve the efficiency and equity with which health insurance is obtained in the United States (Pauly and Percy 2000; McClellan and Baicker 2002; Pauly and Nichols 2002). In particular, the...

Toward universal insurance coverage: a primer for sexual and reproductive health advocates.
After simmering for more than a decade following the failure of the Clinton administration's health care reform plan in 1994, the issue of expanding health insurance coverage with the goal of achieving "universal coverage" has reemerged as a central one in the American political debate. National polls place concerns...

The impacts of the State Children's Health Insurance Program on children who enroll: findings from ten states.
The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was created in 1997 primarily to expand insurance coverage to more low-income children. States had latitude over numerous aspects of their program design and ultimately all states expanded eligibility for public coverage under the new program (Kenney and Chang 2004). One of...

Effects of the State Children's Health Insurance Program on access to dental care and use of dental services.
Lack of dental insurance is one of the main barriers affecting access to dental services (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2000). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the U.S. government gradually increased eligibility for public health insurance for low-income children, mainly under the Medicaid program. However,...

Fairness sought in mental health policies; House bill would expand requirement insurance features match medical care.
Byline: Lee Hammel A bill was filed yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives to require that insurance benefits for mental health be equal to those offered for medical and surgical care. The bill filed by Patrick J. Kennedy, D-R.I. and James Ramstad, R-Minn., does...