Insuring low-income adults: does public coverage crowd out private?
During the mid-1990s Minnesota, Washington State, Oregon, and Tennessee implemented programs to provide subsidized health insurance for low-income persons who were not previously eligible for Medicaid. We estimate the effects of these programs on the health insurance status of low-income adults in these states. We find that among persons with family incomes below 100 percent of the federal poverty level, subsidized public coverage reduced the number of uninsured persons with very little effect on private coverage rates. Among persons with income between 100 percent and 200 percent of FPL, public coverage reduced the number of uninsured persons and crowded out some private insurance. The partial successes achieved by these programs should be kept in perspective: Even after program implementation, approximately 30 percent of low-income adults in the four states were uninsured.
Kronick
Richard
R
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, USA.
Gilmer
Todd
T
D000328:Adult; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008483:Medical Assistance / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008910:Minnesota; D009922:Oregon; D011050:Policy Making; D011203:Poverty; D017149:Private Sector; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013714:Tennessee; D014861:Washington