Insurance Coverage
Gold, Silver, and Bronze: The Important Role of Product Standardization in Health Insurance Reform
[PDF]National health reform will rely on consumer choice and competition to control costs whether or not there is a public insurance option, according to this Institute report. Rational consumer choice, however, is difficult without standardizing health insurance plans, so that value can be easily compared. States may have to play a key role in such standardization.
Courtney Burke with Dina Belloff, November 10, 2009
Companion piece: State Case Studies: Product Standardization in Small Group and Individual Insurance Markets
Managing Risk in Health Insurance Markets: A Challenge for States in the Midst of Health Care Reform
[PDF]States seeking to manage health-insurance risk while providing coverage to more residents should apply several strategies at once, say the Institute's Courtney Burke and Harvard University's Katherine Swartz in this report. Strategies include a requirement that individuals purchase insurance, creation of an insurance exchange, and merger of small group and individual markets.
Courtney Burke and Katherine Swartz, September 10, 2009
How States Are Financing Health Coverage Initiatives
[PDF]Courtney Burke, director of the Institute's Health Policy Research Center, gave a presentation on states' efforts to provide health insurance coverage at the 2009 annual research meeting of AcademyHealth, a professional society for health researchers and policy analysts. In addition to a talk and slide presentation, Burke presented posters on state financing of such coverage efforts and on risk management strategies.
State Financing for Coverage Initiatives: Poster Abstract
Managing Risk: Poster Abstract
Courtney Burke, June 27, 2009
State Financing for Health Coverage Initiatives: Observations
and Options
[PDF]New York faces steep financial challenges as it works toward universal health care coverage, according to a new report by the Institute's Health Policy Research Center. The report, funded by the New York State Health Foundation, analyzes potential sources of revenue and savings that the state could tap.
Courtney Burke and Kimberley Fox, June 3, 2009
Mitigating the Effects of High-Risk, High-Cost Populations in the Private Health Insurance Market
[PDF]At this Institute Public Policy Forum, Katherine Swartz, professor of health policy and economics at the Harvard School of Public Health, provided an overview of the "Massachusetts experience" with ensuring universal health coverage, with a focus on the need to manage — and contain costs — for people with high medical expenses. In response, New York officials representing the departments of Health and Insurance — Troy Oechsner, Jay Laudato and Eileen Hayes — shared perspectives on New York's challenges in expanding care to more high-risk patients.
May 21, 2009
Implementing Small-Group Market Reforms: Lessons from the States
[PDF]This report is a summary of key findings from a Rockefeller Institute survey of state-level efforts to encourage and expand health insurance coverage offered by small businesses. It reviews the experiences and challenges of implementation of insurance reform in three states.
Rockefeller Institute of Government, September 2008
The summary report is accompanied by these more detailed reports:
From Access to Affordability: A Summary of State Strategies to Provide Private Health Insurance to Small Businesses
[PDF]This paper is a nationwide scan of the various strategies states are using to try to address the growing problem of small group coverage.
Courtney Burke and Jihyun Shin, September 2008
The Dirigo Health Reform Act: A Case Study of Small Group Market Reform in Maine
[PDF]Elizabeth Kilbreth and Kimberley Fox, University of Southern Maine, Muskie School of Public Service, August 2008
Individual High Risk Pools: A Case Study of the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association
[PDF]Donna L. Spencer and Lynn Blewett, University of Minnesota, August 2008
Private Insurance Coverage: A Case Study of the Small Group Market in New Jersey
[PDF]Dina Belloff and Joel Cantor, The Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, August 2008
Maine Field Report
[PDF]Elizabeth Kilbreth and Kimberley Fox, University of Southern Maine, Muskie School of Public Service, May 2008
Minnesota Field Report
[PDF]Donna L. Spencer and Lynn Blewett, University of Minnesota, May 2008
New Jersey Field Report
[PDF]Dina Belloff and Joel Cantor, The Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, May 2008
