Designing Health Insurance Market Constructs For Shared Responsibility: Insights From California
Rick Curtis 1*
Ed Neuschler 2
1 Rick Curtis is president of the Institute for Health Policy Solutions in Washington, D.C.
2 Ed Neuschler is a senior program officer at the Institute for Health Policy Solutions in Washington, D.C.
*Corresponding author.
Moving toward universal participation in health insurance using a "shared responsibility" approach requires new, more accessible, and more efficient ways for people who are not offered employer coverage to obtain coverage. California's recent health reform plan--which failed to pass--incorporated individual market reform and choice-pool constructs to achieve critically important risk spreading, assure solvency, and reduce cost shifts. These measures, as well as the considerations that led to their design, offer important insights for health reform at the federal level. [Health Affairs 28, no. 3 (2009): w431-w445 (published online 24 March 2009; 10.1377/hlthaff.28.3.w431)]
Key Words:
Consumer Issues, Health Reform, Insurance Coverage, Legal/Regulatory Issues, State/Local Issues, Health Spending, State/Local Issues - California