Health Affairs

Health Affairs, 27, no. 5 (2008): w399-w415 (Published online 25 August 2008) doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.27.5.w399 © 2008 by Project HOPE	New Online   Getting Health Reform Done   After the State of the Union   Incremental Reform   E-Health in Developing World   Most-Read Articles in 2009

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Covering The Uninsured In 2008: Current Costs, Sources Of Payment, And Incremental Costs

Jack Hadley, John Holahan, Teresa Coughlin and Dawn Miller

People uninsured for any part of 2008 spend about $30 billion out of pocket and receive approximately $56 billion in uncompensated care while uninsured. Government programs finance about 75 percent of uncompensated care. If all uninsured people were fully covered, their medical spending would increase by $122.6 billion. The increase represents 5 percent of current national health spending and 0.8 percent of gross domestic product. However, it is neither the cost of a specific plan nor necessarily the same as the government’s costs, which could be higher, depending on plans’ financing structures and the extent of crowd-out.

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