Healthcare Coverage & Access

Containing the costs of health care can be useful to government, employer, and household budgets, but it may have a detrimental impact on innovation, since health care costs are the main source of revenue for medical innovators. Developers seek profits and so are attracted to industries and innovate where they believe profits can be made.

This brief identifies several promising practices that can help overcome access barriers. A consistent theme is the crucial role played by community-based organizations (CBOs) in effectively addressing barriers related to complicated application processes, and issues of language, literacy, fear, and mistrust.

This brief identifies several factors that contribute to lower application and take-up rates among eligible immigrants, including: (1) the complexity of the application process and eligibility rules; (2) related administrative burdens; (3) language, literacy, and cultural barriers; (4) transportation and other logistical challenges; and (5) climates of fear and mistrust. [19 PDF pages]

This brief provides an overview of how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will affect the eligibility of different immigrants, depending on lawful status and length of residence in the U.S.

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract

The Affordable Care Act prohibits health plans from putting a lifetime dollar limit on most benefits received by Americans in any health plan renewing on or after September 23, 2010. While some plans already provided coverage with no limits on lifetime benefits, millions of Americans were previously in health plans that did not.