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CHILDREN’S HEALTH CARE WHY MORE INSURANCE WON’T SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF THE UNINSURED: Georganne Chapin, MPhil, JD Hudson Health Plan Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality
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Presentation Delivered at the Conference on the Uninsured & Underinsured W ashington, DC December 11, 2007 draft – for final copy contact gchapin@hudsonhealthplan.org
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POPULAR POSITIONS – 2007 The uninsured population is growing Something needs to be done At the least, all children deserve coverage More insurance is the answer
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Sources of Insurance for Children Private coverage As dependents of insured parents Public coverage Medicaid SCHIP
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INSTABILITY OF PRIVATE INSURANCE FOR CHILDREN Unstable parental employment Rising co-premiums for employer coverage Aging-out of employer-based plans
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INSTABILITY OF PUBLIC INSURANCE FOR CHILDREN All-or-nothing income limits Lack of continuous coverage Barriers to recertification Administrative errors Change in residence “Churning”
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PROBLEMS WITH INSURANCE Temporary nature Costs of underwriting Administrative costs Costs of regulation Cost of churning Adverse selection
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INSURANCE IS TEMPORARY Limited eligibility periods Tension between policing the rolls (fraud phobia) and ensuring coverage & access
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UNDERWRITING IS EXPENSIVE & REQUIRES: Predicting costs of care Paying costs of administration Ensuring adequate reserves Taxes Ensuring profits/surpluses Multiple layers of underwriting/risk-sharing
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ADMINSTRATIVE COSTS … pervade the system Insurer level Provider level Government
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CHURNING COSTS MONEY ACROSS THE SYSTEM Costs to insurers Costs to states/government Costs to patients/families Costs to providers Pent-up demand/deferred care Cost-shifting
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Adverse Selection Crowd-out rules Co-premiums or “buy-in” plans Selection bias caused by individual mandates Other ….
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EXPANDING EXISTING INSURANCE PROGRAMS WILL ONLY EXPAND EXISTING INSURANCE PROBLEMS
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So … What do we do?
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BIG IDEA: If we want to ensure that all children have health care, then……
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Make health care available to all children
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Children are a Low Risk Population Children’s Health Care is Mostly Predictable Immunizations Well-child screening & monitoring URIs Children All Need Primary & Preventive Care
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REINFORCE EXISTING PRIMARY CARE SYSTEM Fund additional capacity & facilities directly Establish permanent eligibility for all “children” <18? <21? <25?
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Use “medical home” model Fund primary care providers based on assigned population Establish integrated primary care model with electronic interfaces Establish large risk pools for catastrophic events
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Wrap-up Somebody (Winston Churchill?) once said: You can count on the Americans to get it right, but only after they’ve tried everything else. Georganne Chapin (914) 372-2225 gchapin@hudsonhealthplan.org
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