Wednesday, September 15, 2004
The wrong prescription for insurance needs
[Scott Rothschild, "Report reflects Kansans' insurance struggles," The Lawrence Journal-World, 15 September 2004.]
Kansas Action for Children just released a new study entitled, "Making Families Count: Increasing Access to Affordable Healthcare in Kansas." The report makes a number of excellent observations, including some consistent with earlier releases from Flint Hills:
[A] significant minority of uninsured people are not low-income.
- Of the uninsured children in Kansas, 71% are income-eligible for public assistance, reflecting low-income status.
- Of the uninsured adults in Kansas, 39% lived within 100% of the federal poverty level and 28% lived within 199% of the poverty level in 2001-2002.
- Reflecting moderate-income status, 32% of uninsured adults in Kansas had household incomes at or above 200% of the federal poverty level – making too much money to qualify for public assistance, but not enough to afford insurance.
The report does go astray, however, when it comes to policy recommendations. It makes sense to see that those who are uninsured but nonetheless eligible for public assistance are aware of the coverage available to them. It is important, though, to understand that any expansion of that eligibility will come at the cost of reductions in privately insured individuals.
As well, private insurance tools such as HSAs that increase accessibility to coverage are just becoming widely available. It is vital that the state not step in with co-pay and deductible caps that will undermine their effectiveness. With Medicaid and other social assistance programs already facing significant financial strain, policymakers need to take care that their actions do not needlessly shift individuals onto welfare programs that could otherwise provide for themselves.
[Matthew Hisrich, "A Backgrounder on Kansas Medicaid," The Flint Hills Center, 19 July 2004.
Matthew Hisrich, "State Mandates reduce insurance affordability," The Flint Hills Center, May 2004.
Matthew Hisrich, "Greatest increase in uninsured found among wealthy," The Flint Hills Center, 10 May 2004.]
[Scott Rothschild, "Report reflects Kansans' insurance struggles," The Lawrence Journal-World, 15 September 2004.]
Kansas Action for Children just released a new study entitled, "Making Families Count: Increasing Access to Affordable Healthcare in Kansas." The report makes a number of excellent observations, including some consistent with earlier releases from Flint Hills:
[A] significant minority of uninsured people are not low-income.
- Of the uninsured children in Kansas, 71% are income-eligible for public assistance, reflecting low-income status.
- Of the uninsured adults in Kansas, 39% lived within 100% of the federal poverty level and 28% lived within 199% of the poverty level in 2001-2002.
- Reflecting moderate-income status, 32% of uninsured adults in Kansas had household incomes at or above 200% of the federal poverty level – making too much money to qualify for public assistance, but not enough to afford insurance.
The report does go astray, however, when it comes to policy recommendations. It makes sense to see that those who are uninsured but nonetheless eligible for public assistance are aware of the coverage available to them. It is important, though, to understand that any expansion of that eligibility will come at the cost of reductions in privately insured individuals.
As well, private insurance tools such as HSAs that increase accessibility to coverage are just becoming widely available. It is vital that the state not step in with co-pay and deductible caps that will undermine their effectiveness. With Medicaid and other social assistance programs already facing significant financial strain, policymakers need to take care that their actions do not needlessly shift individuals onto welfare programs that could otherwise provide for themselves.
[Matthew Hisrich, "A Backgrounder on Kansas Medicaid," The Flint Hills Center, 19 July 2004.
Matthew Hisrich, "State Mandates reduce insurance affordability," The Flint Hills Center, May 2004.
Matthew Hisrich, "Greatest increase in uninsured found among wealthy," The Flint Hills Center, 10 May 2004.]
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