Rowland Diane, Garfield Rachel
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Washington, DC, USA.
MedGenMed. 2002 Feb 15;4(1):5.
In this article, we seek to inform the debate over providing assistance to workers who lose their jobs during the recession by assessing the potential impact of an economic downturn on health insurance coverage and reviewing available approaches to secure coverage for unemployed workers and their families. We also summarize recent research and analysis to examine the likely challenges and benefits of these approaches.
Data and analysis are primarily based on the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, the Urban Institute's National Survey of America's Families, and Medicaid data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We also draw on recent surveys and analysis conducted by researchers in the health policy field.
Maintaining health insurance coverage for unemployed workers is important to helping individuals and to stimulating our economy. While some families may be assisted by efforts to subsidize COBRA extension coverage, the potential reach of such an initiative is limited. Building on public programs such as Medicaid offers a targeted, efficient, and effective option but also presents financing challenges to federal and state governments.
在本文中，我们旨在通过评估经济衰退对医疗保险覆盖范围的潜在影响，并回顾为失业工人及其家庭确保保险覆盖的现有方法，为关于在经济衰退期间为失业工人提供援助的辩论提供信息。我们还总结了近期的研究与分析，以审视这些方法可能面临的挑战和带来的益处。
数据与分析主要基于人口普查局的当前人口调查、城市研究所的美国家庭全国调查，以及医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心的医疗补助数据。我们还借鉴了卫生政策领域研究人员近期开展的调查与分析。
为失业工人维持医疗保险覆盖范围对于帮助个人和刺激我们的经济而言至关重要。虽然补贴《综合预算协调法案》（COBRA）延期保险的努力可能会帮助一些家庭，但该举措的潜在覆盖范围有限。以医疗补助等公共项目为基础提供了一个有针对性、高效且有效的选择，但也给联邦和州政府带来了融资挑战。
