Work

What Other Programs Can Teach Us: Increasing Participation in Health Insurance Programs

Year: 2003

Type: review

Abstract: Many uninsured Americans are already eligible for free or low-cost public coverage through Medicaid or Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but do not "take up" that coverage. However, several other public programs, such as food stamps and unemployment insurance, also have less-than-complete take-up rates, and take-up rates vary considerably among programs. This article examines the take-up literature across a variety of programs to learn what effects nonfinancial features, such as administrative complexity, have on take-up. We find that making benefit receipt automatic is the most effective means of ensuring high take-up, while there is little evidence that stigma is important.

Source: American Journal of Public Health

DOI: 10.2105/ajph.93.1.67

Authors: Dahlia K. Remler, Sherry A. Glied

Institutions: Columbia University, Wagner College

Language: English

Topic: Healthcare Policy and Management

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funder: Commonwealth Foundation