The distributional effects of employer and individual health insurance mandates.
This paper assesses the impact of different kinds of employer and individual mandates on the cost to individuals, business, and government. We also examine the distribution of health care expenditures across individuals in different income groups, assuming that individuals ultimately bear the cost of employer payments through lower wages and the cost of government payments through tax contributions. A major conclusion is that net benefits to lower income individuals improve under all alternatives to the current system with relatively small increases in payments by individuals in any income group. Additionally, while employer mandates reduce individuals' direct payments, individual mandates can have lower costs to the government and better distributional outcomes. A 50% employer mandate also has many desirable features.
Holahan
J
J
Health Policy Research Center, Urban Institute, Washington, DC 20037.
Winterbottom
C
C
Zedlewski
S
S
D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005380:Financing, Government; D005381:Financing, Organized; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006291:Health Policy; D007182:Income; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D014481:United States