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Holes in the Health Insurance System-Who Lacks Coverage and Why

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Catherine Hoffman ,
Diane Rowland  and
Alicia L. Carbaugh
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Extract

Lack of health insurance coverage is a large and growing problem for millions of American families. Rising health care costs and economic insecurity continue to threaten the bedrock of the health insurance system - employer-sponsored coverage - while states’ fiscal situations and the escalating federal deficit complicate any efforts at reform. Providing health insurance coverage to the millions of uninsured remains a major health care challenge for the nation and understanding the current health insurance environment, who the uninsured are, and why they are uninsured is critical when considering health care reform. This paper aims to define the problem of the uninsured, providing an overview of the uninsured in America and the roles and limits of private and public insurance. Following this discussion, the paper describes the current health insurance environment and examines the prospects for improving coverage.

Type
Symposium
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , Fall 2004 , pp. 390 - 396
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2004

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