title: Patterns of insurance coverage within families with children.
abstract: This paper examines patterns of health insurance within families with children, using the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Four and a half million families (14 percent) had insurance for some, but not all, family members. These partially insured families generally obtained coverage because of one of three situations: (1) A parent earned relatively higher wages and received the concomitant benefits of such jobs but could not afford dependent coverage; (2) the family had young children who were covered by Medicaid through more generous eligibility thresholds for children under age six, while other family members were ineligible; or (3) the family had a member who was eligible for public coverage because of a disability. Each of these situations offers the platform from which incremental policies might efficiently expand coverage to families.
authors.affiliation: Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University, New York City, USA.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Hanson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005192:Family Health; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008484:Medicaid; D010290:Parents; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology