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Topic of This Issue:
Health Care
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
"The Health Effects of Medicare for the Near-Elderly Uninsured"
DANIEL POLSKY
University of Pennsylvania - School
of Medicine
JALPA DOSHI
University of Pennsylvania - School
of Medicine
JOSE ESCARCE
University of California, Los Angeles
- RAND Health
Sciences Program, National Bureau of
Economic Research
(NBER)
WILLARD G. MANNING
University of Chicago - Irving B.
Harris Graduate School
of Public Policy Studies
SUSAN PADDOCK
University of California, Los Angeles
- RAND Health
Sciences Program
LIYI CEN
University of Pennsylvania - School
of Medicine
JEANNETTE A. ROGOWSKI
University of Medicine &
Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)
- School of Public Health, National
Bureau of Economic
Research (NBER)
"Health Accounts and Other Welfare Accounts"
J. MICHAEL ORSZAG
Watson Wyatt Worldwide - Reigate
(Surrey Office),
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
ROBERT GIDEHAG
Swedish Research Institute of Trade (HUI)
DENNIS J. SNOWER
University of Kiel - Institute for
World Economics
(IfW), Institute for the Study of
Labor (IZA), Centre
for Economic Policy Research (CEPR),
CESifo (Center for
Economic Studies and Ifo Institute
for Economic
Research)
STEFAN FOELSTER
Confederation of Swedish Enterprise,
Swedish Research
Institute of Trade (HUI)
"Retiree Health Benefit Coverage and Retirement"
JAMES MARTON
Martiin School of Public Policy
and Administration
STEPHEN WOODBURY
Michigan State University, W.E.
Upjohn Institute for
Employment Research, National Bureau
of Economic
Research (NBER)
"An Evaluation of the President's Health Insurance Proposal"
LEONARD E. BURMAN
Urban Institute
JASON FURMAN
NYU Wagner School, Center on Budget
and Policy
Priorities, Brookings Institution
GREG LEISERSON
The Urban Institute
ROBERTON C. WILLIAMS
The Urban Institute
"Employment-Based Health Benefits: Access and Coverage,
1988-2005"
PAUL FRONSTIN
Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)
______________________________
"The Health Effects of Medicare for the Near-Elderly Uninsured"
NBER Working Paper No. W12511
Author: DANIEL POLSKY
University
of Pennsylvania - School of Medicine
Email: polsky@mail.med.upenn.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=157175
Co-Author: JALPA DOSHI
University
of Pennsylvania - School of Medicine
Email: jdoshi@mail.med.upenn.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=673820
Contact: JOSE ESCARCE
University
of California, Los Angeles - RAND Health
Sciences
Program, National Bureau of Economic
Research
(NBER)
Email: escarce@rand.org
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=349130
Co-Author: WILLARD G. MANNING
University
of Chicago - Irving B. Harris Graduate
School
of Public Policy Studies
Email: w-manning@uchicago.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=196468
Co-Author: SUSAN PADDOCK
University
of California, Los Angeles - RAND Health
Sciences
Program
Email: paddock@rand.org
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=373787
Co-Author: LIYI CEN
University
of Pennsylvania - School of Medicine
Email: liyicen@mail.med.upenn.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=733218
Co-Author: JEANNETTE A. ROGOWSKI
University
of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey
(UMDNJ)
- School of Public Health, National Bureau
of
Economic Research (NBER)
Email: rogowsje@umdnj.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=400636
Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract
ABSTRACT: We study how the trajectory of health for the
near-elderly uninsured changes upon enrolling into Medicare at
the age of 65. We find that Medicare increases the probability of
the previously uninsured having excellent or very good health,
decreases their probability of being in good health, and has no
discernible effects at lower health levels. Surprisingly, we
found Medicare had a similar effect on health for the previously
insured. This suggests that Medicare helps the relatively healthy
65 year olds, but does little for those who are already in
declining health once they reach the age of 65. The improvement
in health between the uninsured and insured were not
statistically different from each other. The stability of
insurance coverage afforded by Medicare may be the source of the
health benefit suggesting that universal coverage at other ages
may have similar health effects.
______________________________
"Health Accounts and Other Welfare Accounts"
Watson Wyatt Technical Paper No. 2003-TR-12
Contact: J. MICHAEL ORSZAG
Watson
Wyatt Worldwide - Reigate (Surrey Office),
Institute
for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Email: Michael.Orszag@eu.watsonwyatt
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=23495
Co-Author: ROBERT GIDEHAG
Swedish
Research Institute of Trade (HUI)
Email: robert.gidehag@hui.se
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=332425
Co-Author: DENNIS J. SNOWER
University
of Kiel - Institute for World Economics
(IfW),
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA),
Centre
for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), CESifo
(Center
for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for
Economic
Research)
Email: dennis.snower@ifw-kiel.de
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=23446
Co-Author: STEFAN FOELSTER
Confederation
of Swedish Enterprise, Swedish
Research
Institute of Trade (HUI)
Email: stefan.folster@svensktnaringsl
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=332418
Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract
ABSTRACT: Many countries with generous social insurance are
currently forced to cut back or modify their systems. At the same
time many developing countries lack social insurance for large
segments of the population. Health accounts may offer a way of
implementing health insurance that keeps a lid on costs and
provides better incentives than traditional public or private
health insurance. This paper discusses health accounts and other
savings-account based social insurance.
______________________________
"Retiree Health Benefit Coverage and Retirement"
Levy Economics Institute Working Paper
Contact: JAMES MARTON
Martiin
School of Public Policy and Administration
Email: marton@uky.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=659582
Co-Author: STEPHEN WOODBURY
Michigan
State University, W.E. Upjohn Institute
for
Employment Research, National Bureau of
Economic
Research (NBER)
Email: WOODBUR2@PILOT.MSU.EDU
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=31000
Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract
ABSTRACT: Employer-provided health benefits for workers who
retire before age 65 has fallen over the last decade. We examine
a cohort of male workers from the Health and Retirement Survey to
explore the dynamics of retiree health benefits and the
relationship between retiree health benefits and retirement
behavior. A better understanding of this relationship is
important to the policy debate over the best way to increase
health coverage for older Americans without reducing work
incentives. Concerning the dynamics at work, we find that,
between 1992 and 1996, 24 percent of full-time workers who had
retiree health benefits lost their coverage, while 15 percent of
full-time workers who lacked coverage gained it. Also, of the
full-time employed men who were covered by retiree health
benefits in 1992 and had retired by 1996, 3 percent were
uninsured, and 15 percent were covered by health insurance other
than employer-provided insurance. On the relationship between
retiree health benefits and retirement, we find that workers with
retiree benefits were 29 to 55 percent more likely to retire than
those without. We also find that workers who are eligible for
retiree health benefits tend to take advantage of them when they
are relatively young.
______________________________
"An Evaluation of the President's Health Insurance Proposal"
Tax Notes, Vol. 114, No. 10, March 12, 2007
Contact: LEONARD E. BURMAN
Urban
Institute
Email: LBURMAN@UI.URBAN.ORG
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=236820
Co-Author: JASON FURMAN
NYU
Wagner School, Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities,
Brookings Institution
Email: jason.furman@nyu.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=526229
Co-Author: GREG LEISERSON
The
Urban Institute
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=767022
Co-Author: ROBERTON C. WILLIAMS
The
Urban Institute
Email: rwilliam@ui.urban.org
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=329997
Abstract: http://ssrn.com/abstract
ABSTRACT: President Bush has proposed to replace most tax
subsidies for healthcare with a standard deduction for health
insurance available for taxpayers who have qualifying insurance
coverage. The proposal would equalize the tax treatment of
traditional health insurance for people who get coverage through
their jobs and those who buy insurance in the nongroup market,
although it would retain some preferences for high-deductible
health plans. It would also remove current incentives to
overspend on healthcare. The basic thrust of the proposal -
leveling the playing field for health insurance - is laudable.
But the plan fails to address some of the most significant
problems in today's market for health insurance and actually
threatens many of the most vulnerable families.
This report explains the proposal and its likely effect on the
distribution of tax burdens and insurance coverage. It suggests
specific changes that would make the proposal fairer, improve its
chances of meeting its goals, and reduce the risks of
exacerbating the market's current problems.
______________________________
"Employment-Based Health Benefits: Access and Coverage,
1988-2005"
EBRI Issue Brief, No. 303, March 2007
Contact: PAUL FRONSTIN
Employee
Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)
Email: FRONSTIN@EBRI.ORG
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=255140
Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract
ABSTRACT: This paper, which uses the February Employee Benefit
and Contingent Worker Supplement to the Current Population Survey
(CPS), examines the state of employment-based health benefits
among workers with respect to the availability of health benefits
in the work place. It looks at worker eligibility for health
benefits (offer rates), and worker participation in health
benefits (coverage rates and take-up rates). It also examines how
the state of employment-based health benefits has changed,
reasons why workers do not have employment-based health benefits
from their own employer, and how these reasons have changed since
the 1990s. This paper does not address the general lack of
affordable health insurance or other issues related to the health
care financing and delivery system.