How Not to Cover the Uninsured

During the third annual "Cover the Uninsured Week" (May 1-8), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other organizations will focus public attention on the problems facing those without health insurance. While health experts and policymakers identify covering the uninsured as a priority, there is sharp disagreement about how best to do so. Should we expand government insurance programs such as Medicaid, mandate that everyone be covered, or use tax policy to induce more coverage in the private insurance market? To help inform this debate, AEI will bring together four analysts with extensive research and practical experience to share their views on how best to cover the uninsured, and how not to create programs that leave the uninsured, the currently insured, or taxpayers worse off.

About the Author

 

Robert B.
Helms
  • Robert B. Helms has served as a member of the Medicaid Commission as well as assistant secretary for planning and evaluation and deputy assistant secretary for health policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). An economist by training, he has written and lectured extensively on health policy and health economics, including the history of Medicare, the tax treatment of health insurance, and compared international health systems. He currently participates in the Health Policy Consensus Group, an informal task force that is developing consumer-driven health reforms. He is the author or editor of several AEI books on health policy, including Medicare in the Twenty-First Century: Seeking Fair and Efficient Reform and Competitive Strategies in the Pharmaceutical Industry.
  • Phone: 2028625877
    Email: rhelms@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Catherine Griffin
    Phone: 2028625920
    Email: catherine.griffin@aei.org

 

Mark V.
Pauly
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