Copyright (c) 2008 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller Recent documents in Thomas C Buchmueller en-us Sun, 21 Dec 2008 05:37:45 PST 3600 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/12 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/12 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:23:21 PST Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/11 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/11 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:21:30 PST Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/10 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/10 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:19:54 PST Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/9 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/9 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:17:31 PST Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/8 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/8 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:15:50 PST Objective: To investigate the factors underlying the lower rate of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage for foreign-born workers. Data Sources: 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation. Study Design: We estimate probit regressions to determine the effect of immigrant status on employer sponsored health insurance coverage, including the probabilities of working for a firm that offers coverage, being eligible for coverage, and taking up coverage. Data Extraction Methods: We identified native born citizens, naturalized citizens, and non-citizen residents between the ages of 18 and 65, in the year 2002. Principal Findings: First, we find that the large difference in coverage rates for immigrants and native-born Americans is driven by the very low rates of coverage for non-citizen immigrants. Differences between native-born and naturalized citizens are quite small and for some outcomes are statistically insignificant when we control for observable characteristics. Second, our results indicate that the gap between natives and non-citizens is explained mainly by differences in the probability of working for a firm that offers insurance. Conditional on working for such a firm, non-citizens are only slightly less likely to be eligible for coverage and, when eligible, are only slightly less likely to take up coverage. Third, roughly two-thirds of the native/non-citizen gap in coverage overall and in the probability of working for an insurance-providing employer is explained by characteristics of the individual and differences in the types of jobs they hold. Conclusions: The substantially higher rate of uninsurance among immigrants is driven by the lower rate of health insurance offers by the employers of immigrants. Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/7 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/7 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:11:55 PST We studied an innovative outreach effort in California, which trains and certifies community organizations to help complete Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) applications. In this paper we provide a detailed description of participating organizations, the populations they serve, and their success at turning submitted applications into enrollments. We found that insurance brokers and income tax preparers--for-profit groups that are not typically associated with outreach--make important contributions to Medicaid and SCHIP in California. Brokers, in particular, help serve a hard-to-reach population: those on the higher end of the income eligibility thresholds. Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/6 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/6 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:07:53 PST Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/5 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/5 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:59:52 PST Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/4 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/4 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:57:59 PST Between 1997 and 2003, the share of workers subject to mental health parity laws greatly increased. But because of exemptions for self-insured firms and small firms, coverage is much lower than a simple tally of state mandates would suggest. Limits on the types of conditions covered further weaken these laws. This paper summarizes the extent and scope of state parity legislation in terms of the number of insured private-sector employees covered. It explicitly accounts for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) exemption for self-insured plans, exemptions for small employers, and the range of conditions covered by the law. Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/3 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/3 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:54:53 PST Senator John McCain's (R-AZ) health plan would eliminate the current tax exclusion of employer payments for health coverage, replace the exclusion with a refundable tax credit for those who purchase coverage, and encourage Americans to move to a national market for nongroup insurance. Middle-range estimates suggest that initially this change will have little impact on the number of uninsured people, although within five years this number will likely grow as the value of the tax credit falls relative to rising health care costs. Moving toward a relatively unregulated nongroup market will tend to raise costs, reduce the generosity of benefits, and leave people with fewer consumer protections. Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/2 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/2 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:50:18 PST Thomas C. Buchmueller http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/1 http://works.bepress.com/thomas_buchmueller/1 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:36:47 PST The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) significantly expanded public insurance eligibility and coverage for children in ``working poor" families. Despite this success, it is estimated that over 6 million children who are eligible for public insurance remain uninsured. An important first step for designing strategies to increase enrollment of eligible but uninsured children is to determine how the take-up of public coverage varies within the population. Because of their low rates of insurance coverage and unique enrollment barriers, children of immigrants are an especially important group to consider. We compare the effect of SCHIP eligibility on the insurance coverage of children of foreign-born and native-born parents. In contrast to research on the earlier Medicaid expansions, we find similar take-up rates for the two groups. This suggests that state outreach strategies were not only effective at increasing take-up overall, but were successful in reducing disparities in access to coverage. Thomas C. Buchmueller