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.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-8 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health |
| DOIs | |
| State | Accepted/In press - May 25 2016 |
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Keywords
- Benefit mandates
- Health insurance
- Racial/ethnic group disparities
- State health policy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Cite this
Health Benefits Mandates and Their Potential Impacts on Racial/Ethnic Group Disparities in Insurance Markets. / Charles, Shana Alex; Ponce, Ninez; Ritley, Dominique; Guendelman, Sylvia; Kempster, Jennifer; Lewis, John; Melnikow, Joy.
In: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 25.05.2016, p. 1-8.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Health Benefits Mandates and Their Potential Impacts on Racial/Ethnic Group Disparities in Insurance Markets
AU - Charles, Shana Alex
AU - Ponce, Ninez
AU - Ritley, Dominique
AU - Guendelman, Sylvia
AU - Kempster, Jennifer
AU - Lewis, John
AU - Melnikow, Joy
PY - 2016/5/25
Y1 - 2016/5/25
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Benefit mandates
KW - Health insurance
KW - Racial/ethnic group disparities
KW - State health policy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969963751&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84969963751&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10903-016-0436-9
DO - 10.1007/s10903-016-0436-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 27225252
AN - SCOPUS:84969963751
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
JF - Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
SN - 1557-1912
ER -