1. Health Benefits Mandates and Their Potential Impacts on Racial/Ethnic Group Disparities in Insurance Markets.
- Author
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Charles, Shana, Ponce, Ninez, Ritley, Dominique, Guendelman, Sylvia, Kempster, Jennifer, Lewis, John, and Melnikow, Joy
- Subjects
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CONCEPTUAL structures , *CONFIDENCE intervals , *ETHNIC groups , *HEALTH services accessibility , *HEALTH status indicators , *INSURANCE , *INSURANCE companies , *HEALTH insurance , *INTERVIEWING , *MATHEMATICAL models , *RESEARCH methodology , *HEALTH policy , *PROBABILITY theory , *RACE , *RESEARCH funding , *SEX distribution , *SURVEYS , *TELEPHONES , *SAMPLE size (Statistics) , *THEORY ,PATIENT Protection & Affordable Care Act - Abstract
Addressing racial/ethnic group disparities in health insurance benefits through legislative mandates requires attention to the different proportions of racial/ethnic groups among insurance markets. This necessary baseline data, however, has proven difficult to measure. We applied racial/ethnic data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey to the 2012 California Health Benefits Review Program Cost and Coverage Model to determine the racial/ethnic composition of ten health insurance market segments. We found disproportional representation of racial/ethnic groups by segment, thus affecting the health insurance impacts of benefit mandates. California's Medicaid program is disproportionately Latino (60 % in Medi-Cal, compared to 39 % for the entire population), and the individual insurance market is disproportionately non-Latino white. Gender differences also exist. Mandates could unintentionally increase insurance coverage racial/ethnic disparities. Policymakers should consider the distribution of existing racial/ethnic disparities as criteria for legislative action on benefit mandates across health insurance markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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