Higher income and uninsured: common or rare?
Massachusetts plans to penalize those who do not have health insurance, targeting higher-income people. Are higher-income Americans a small or substantial share of the uninsured? The U.S. Census Bureau reports that one in three Americans without health insurance lived in a household with income greater than $50,000 in 2005. Many of these higher-income uninsured people do not fit the profile of free-riders who have the money but are unwilling to buy coverage. A majority have lower incomes but live with others; only together are they higher income. For others, higher income or lack of insurance is transient.
Kuttner
Hanns
H
Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, USA. hkuttner@umich.edu
Rutledge
Matthew S
MS
D000328:Adult; D019352:Censuses; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States