Researchers from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Report New Studies and Findings in the Area of Insurance (Horizontal and Vertical Equity and Public Subsidies for Private Health Insurance In the Us): Insurance

2024 AUG 02 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Insurance have been published. According to news reporting originating from Rockville, Maryland, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The United States offers two markedly different subsidy structures for private health insurance. When covered through employer-based plans, employees and their dependents benefit from the exclusion from taxable income of the premiums.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Individuals without access to employer coverage may obtain subsidies for Marketplace coverage. This paper seeks to understand how the public subsidies embedded in the privately financed portion of the U.S. healthcare system impact the payments families are required to make under both ESI and Marketplace coverage, and the implications for finance equity. Using the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-HC) and Marketplace premium data, we assess horizontal and vertical equity by calculating public subsidies for and expected family spending under each coverage source and using Lorenz curves and Gini and concentration coefficients. Our study pooled the 2018 and 2019 MEPS-HC to achieve a sample size of 10,593 observations. Our simulations showed a marked horizontal inequity for lower-income families with access to employer coverage who cannot obtain Marketplace subsidies. Relative to both the financing of employer coverage and earlier Marketplace tax credits, the more generous Marketplace premium subsidies, first made available in 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act, substantially increased the vertical equity of Marketplace financing.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “While Marketplace subsidies have clearly improved equity within the United States, we conclude with a comparison to other OECD countries highlighting the persistence of inequities in the U.S. stemming from its noteworthy reliance on employer-based private health insurance.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Horizontal and Vertical Equity and Public Subsidies for Private Health Insurance In the Us. Social Science & Medicine, 2024;351. Social Science & Medicine can be contacted at: Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Social Science & Medicine - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/social-science-and-medicine/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Paul D. Jacobs, USA. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Div Res & Modeling, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20850, United States.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116994. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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