Publications and Reports
"Study on the Consequences of Uninsurance Featured in a New Journal Supplement"
A June 2003 supplement of
Medical Care Research and Review presents a compelling case that health insurance does lead to improved health and better access to care. The supplement, with Thomas Rice as guest editor, includes four commentaries on the topic by John Ayanian, Stuart Butler, Karen Davis, and Richard Kronick. The supplement, published by Sage Publications and supported by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU), features Jack Hadley’s exhaustive review of 25 years of research literature.
Medical Care Research and Review, June 2003
"How Many People Lack Health Insurance and For How Long?"
The report is based on household interviews as part of the annual Current Population Survey. The report finds that between 21 million and 31 million people were uninsured for all of 1998, the most recent year for which reliable comparative data are available. Since then, the number who are uninsured all year probably has not changed substantially, given historical trends. Furthermore, the uninsured population is fluid, with many people gaining and losing coverage.
Congressional Budget Office, May 2003
"Issues in Coverage: Options for Financing Health Coverage Expansion"
This paper, authored by Jack A. Meyer, and Elliot K. Wicks, is the fourth paper in the Issues in Coverage Expansion Design Series and 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.
Economic and Social Research Institute, April 2003
Kaiser Family Foundation: The New Middle-Class of Uninsured Americans -- Is it Real?
This issue paper discusses and answers the question are the newly uninsured in 2001 predominantly from the middle-class. The paper examines U.S. Census Bureau’s data and concludes that most of the increase in the uninsured (1.3 million people) was among low-income people with incomes less than 200% of the poverty level.
Kaiser Family Foundation, March 2003
Summary of "A Shared Destiny: Community Effects of Uninsurance"
The fourth Committee report examines the issue of uninsurance from a community perspective, showing that the quality, quantity, and scope of health services within the community can be adversely affected by having a large or growing uninsured population. This report explores the overlapping financial and organizational basis of health services delivery to uninsured and insured populations, the demonstrated and hypothesized effects of community uninsurance on access to health care locally, and the potential spillover effects of uninsurance on a community's economy and the health of its citizens.
Institute of Medicine, March 2003
"Going Without Health Insurance: Nearly One in Three Non-Elderly Americans"
This report estimates that approximately 75 million Americans under
65 years of age were uninsured sometime in 2001 and 2002. The report further estimates that almost twothirds
(65%) were uninsured for at least six months, and nearly one-quarter (24%) were uninsured
throughout the two-year period.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, March 2003
Covering the Uninsured Fact Sheets
These fact sheets contain basic information on the issue of health care coverage in America and, in particular, on Americans who do not have health insurance. These fact sheets will be periodically updated and additional ones will be available in the near future.
Covering the Uninsured, February 2003
IOM - Consequences of Uninsurance
This study discusses the findings from a three-year study of the uninsured conducted with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A 16-member Committee issued six reports between September 2001 and January 2004.
Institute of Medicine, January 2004
"The Uninsured: A Primer - Key Facts about Americans without Health Insurance"
This document provides a basic overview of issues involving the uninsured population. Includes a discussions of who are the uninsured, trends in the numbers, the role of employer-sponsored insurance and Medicaid, and the impact of being uninsured. Includes tables and charts with data from the 2001 U.S. Census survey.
Kaiser Family Foundation, December 2003
Kaiser Family Foundation: Sicker and Poorer: The Consequences of Being Uninsured
This report synthesizes the major findings of the past 25 years of health services research assessing the most important effects of health insurance.
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, May 2002
"Care Without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late"
Part of a series of reports examining the consequences of being uninsured for individuals, families, communities and society as a whole.
Institute of Medicine, May 2002
"Changes In Insurance Coverage: 1994–2000 And Beyond"
Report reveals that although the number of Americans with employer coverage increased dramatically, the rate of uninsurance remained essentially unchanged.
Health Affairs, April 3, 2002
"Security Matters: How Instability in Health Insurance Puts U.S. Workers at Risk"
This report reveals that being without health insurance coverage even for a short time could have long-term health and economic consequences. Insured people who had experienced a time uninsured during the past year were equally likely to have problems paying medical bills and accessing health care as those who were uninsured when surveyed.
Commonwealth Fund, December 2001
"Solving the Health Insurance Problem for Working Americans"
Chapter discusses how tax credits are a crucial element of the solution lowering the ranks of the uninsured.
The Heritage Foundation, 2001
"A Perfect Storm: the Confluence of Forces Affecting Health Care Coverage"
This report examines the confluence of powerful economic forces, fueled by the terrorist attacks of September
11, have unleashed a “perfect storm” that could increase dramatically the number of
uninsured people in the U.S. -- with as many as 6 million people in total losing their
coverage in 2001 and 2002.
National Coalition on Health Care, November, 2001
"Coverage Matters: Insurance and Health Care"
The first of five reports that "examine the consequences of being without insurance, not only for persons who are uninsured and their families, but also for the communities in which they live and for society."
Institute of Medicine, October 11, 2001
"Covering the Low-Income Uninsured: Assessing the Alternatives"
This issue brief describes and analyzes expansions of Medicaid and SCHIP, tax credits for individually-purchased insurance, and tax credits for employment-based health insurance as options to expand health coverage of the low-income population.
Kaiser Family Foundation, July 2001
"Covering America: Real Remedies for the Uninsured," vol. 1
This paper is a set of 10 comprehensive health coverage proposals that seek to move the country toward universal health coverage. The proposals include a number that are broad in scope and go beyond incremental reform. Included are new approaches to using federal income tax credits, expanding Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, implementing Medicare buy-ins, and organizing insurance purchasing.
Economic and Social Research Institute, June 2001
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