Health Insurance Expansions for Working Families: QA Comparison of Targeting Strategies

Using the federal poverty level to determine eligibility under health insurance expansions to uninsured working families is a more effective way to extend coverage than eligibility criteria based on hourly wages or firm size, according to a new study.

In "Health Insurance Expansions for Working Families: A Comparison of Targeting Strategies" (Health Affairs, July/August 2002), Columbia University health policy analyst Danielle H. Ferry and colleagues conclude that a poverty-based eligibility criterion is likely to be more efficient and less costly than other criteria. Using data from the March 2000 supplement of the Current Population Survey and other sources, the authors also found that poverty-based approaches are more effective in targeting those without access to employer-sponsored insurance and those with low take-up of such coverage.