missouri news

Kansas City Star: For the employed but uninsured, going without health coverage is work, 10/24/09
They often work 40 hours a week — sometimes 80. They talk of being embarrassed or of living in fear of a common cold or twisted ankle, of an accident or illness that in an instant could fell them or a family member and hobble their financial lives for years. In the parlance of current health care debate, they are the working uninsured.

Howell County News: Area legislators comment on health care reform bill, 10/22/09
Federal legislation to reform health care is still under way, with several different versions of the bill being combined into one.

St. Louis Beacon: Once a vocal champion of Medicaid expansion, Nixon's now acting cautiously, 10/20/09
When Jay Nixon stopped by a Columbia residence in November 2007, he wasn’t shy about talking about expanding the state’s Medicaid program.

national news

Wall Street Journal: Senate on verge of health bill, 10/06/09
Despite all the disagreement in Washington, every proposal now before Congress to overhaul the nation's health care system includes creation of an insurance "exchange" -- a marketplace that would operate something like a Travelocity Web site for insurance policies.

Wall Street Journal: Insurers fight bid to ease penalties in health bill, 10/26/09
Top Senate Democrats are close to finalizing their health bill and could unveil a measure as soon as early this week that would include stiffer penalties on employers who fail to provide health coverage.

Los Angeles Times: Who might, or might not, be covered under the health care bills, 10/26/09
Low-income people could get federal assistance, but even a 'public option' may leave out some individuals.

New York Times: Small businesses face sharp rise in costs of health care, 10/25/09
As Congress nears votes on legislation that would overhaul the health care system, many small businesses say they are facing the steepest rise in insurance premiums they have seen in recent years.

The latest news is available at
www.CoverMissouri.org

cover missouri feature

The Free-Rider Effect
Who's not paying into the system?

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In 2006, the Missouri Foundation for Health published Health Insurance Coverage of Dual-Income Families: The Free-Rider Effect and the Cost to Employers. As employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) and employer mandates have emerged as issues in national health reform, we thought it would be useful to revisit this report.

The number of dual-income families in the U.S. has increased over the past 30 years. At the same time, the number of employers providing health insurance has declined. The combination of these two factors has led to a "free-rider" effect, where employers benefit from their workers receiving coverage paid for by other employers or the government (e.g. Medicaid).

Certain industries and types of businesses are more likely to have a higher number of free riders. These include: agriculture, fishing and forestry; retail/other services industry; and the smallest businesses, those with less than 10 employees. A recent news article touches on the free-rider effect, with several retail businesses having a large number of employees enrolled in Medicaid, a government-financed insurance program for low-income individuals.

Free-riding creates a significant financial burden. The report found some employers were carrying extra health insurance costs because many small employers had either been priced out of the health insurance system or could not offer coverage at affordable rates.

Learn more:

Read the Fact Sheet

Read Health Insurance Coverage of Dual-Income Families: The Free-Rider Effect and the Cost to Employers

Cover Missouri is a project of the Missouri Foundation for Health. Learn more here.