Health care utilization for the "newly insured": results from the Washington Basic Health Plan.
The risk of providing coverage for low-income people formerly without insurance is unknown. We conducted an evaluation to describe the use of services from 1989-1992 for members of the Basic Health Plan (BHP), a subsidized health insurance program for low-income individuals in the state of Washington. There was evidence of pent-up demand for care for those who had been without insurance for more than a year. Overall, members in the BHP program were not high users of care, although one of the three plans we examined had significantly higher utilization than the other two. BHP total expenditures were comparable to those for state employees and lower than those for Medicaid recipients.
Martin
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DP
Department of Health Services, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle 98195-7660, USA.
Diehr
P
P
Cheadle
A
A
Madden
C W
CW
Patrick
D L
DL
Skillman
S M
SM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005249:Fees and Charges; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008489:Medical Indigency; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013221:State Health Plans / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States; D014861:Washington