Grey Lit: Shared Responsibility to Cover California’s Children: A Key Step on the Road to Universal Health Insurance - Len M. Nichols with Cindy Zeldin and Peter Harbage

Posted by CHPRE Staff Publications Thursday, November 3rd, 2005

Summary:

Health insurance is the gateway to health and to our health care system, yet over five million Californians are uninsured, about 800,000 of whom are children. Having health insurance facilitates access to affordable care from a network of health care providers and shields families from financial ruin in the case of a catastrophic medical emergency.

While most Californians have access to employment-based coverage, a growing number of people either work for firms that do not offer health insurance or cannot afford its rapidly increasing cost. Public programs such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families play a crucial role by offering health insurance to low-income children and some parents. However, many uninsured Californians do not meet the eligibility criteria for these programs and cannot afford or are ineligible for private insurance.

“Shared Responsibility to Cover California’s Children: A Key Step on the Road to Universal Health Insurance.” New America Foundation, California Working Paper #1, November 2005. with Cindy Zeldin and Peter Harbage.

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Grey Lit: Insuring Health Coverage for California’s Immigrant Children - Len M. Nichols with Cindy Zeldin and Peter Harbage

Posted by CHPRE Staff Publications Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005

Summary:

The New America Foundation is committed to achieving universal health insurance coverage for all people in America. The most promising route to universal coverage is a system that relies on shared responsibility among individuals, employers, and the government. To that end, the New America Foundation has released a series of three papers outlining how to cover all children in California as a first step towards universal coverage. This paper is a component of that series.

“Insuring Health Coverage for California’s Immigrant Children.” New America Foundation, California Working Paper #2, November 2005. with Cindy Zeldin and Peter Harbage.

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Grey Lit: Insuring Seamless Insurance Coverage for California’s Children - Len M. Nichols with Cindy Zeldin and Peter Harbage

Posted by CHPRE Staff Publications Tuesday, November 1st, 2005

Summary:

In our fragmented health care system, the availability of health insurance is often tied to factors such as employment status, family income, and even age. Small life changes can radically affect the continuity of health insurance coverage and, consequently, the level of care received.[i] Like their fellow Americans, many Californians have intermittent health insurance coverage, or lack coverage altogether. While a majority of uninsured Americans are uninsured for more than 12 months out of any four-year period, roughly half those who are uninsured at any point in time will transition into and out of coverage of various types during the year. Recent research has shown that more than twice as many people who are uninsured on a given day are uninsured at some point over a four-year period.[ii] An overwhelming body of research has clarified that insurance is the key to accessing timely and efficacious care. The Institute of Medicine has concluded that 18,000 Americans die each year because of lack of insurance and the access problems uninsurance entails.[iii] Finally, insurance markets will work far more efficiently and

fairly if all people participate in insurance pools.