Posting date: June 4, 2003

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Health Affairs, 10.1377/hlthaff.w3.250
Copyright © 2003 by Project HOPE

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Covering The Uninsured: How Much Would It Cost?

¹ Jack Hadley, an economist, is a a principal research associate at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., and a senior fellow at the Center for Studying Health System Change.
² John Holahan, also an economist, directs the Urban Institute's Health Policy Center.

^*Corresponding author.

Abstract

To provide benchmarks for evaluating the costs of alternative proposals to provide insurance coverage for the uninsured, this study presents two sets of cost estimates derived from medical spending patterns of lower- or middle-income people with private insurance plans and those of people with public insurance coverage during 1996-1998. The analysis suggests that the uninsured would use $33.9-$68.7 billion (in 2001 dollars) in additional medical care if they were fully insured. An increase in medical spending of this range would increase total health care spending by 3-6 percent and would raise health care’s share of GDP by less than one percentage point.

Key Words: Access To Care, Health Reform, Insurance Coverage, Health Spending

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