Roughly 40 million Americans have no health insurance, private or public, and the number has grown steadily over the past 25 years. Who are these children, women, and men, and why do they lack coverage for essential health care services? How does the system of insurance coverage in the U.S. operate, and where does it fail? The first of six Institute of Medicine reports that will examine in detail the consequences of having a large uninsured population, Coverage Matters: Insurance and Health Care, explores the myths and realities of who is uninsured, identifies social, economic, and policy factors that contribute to the situation, and describes the likelihood faced by members of various population groups of being uninsured. It serves as a guide to a broad range of issues related to the lack of insurance coverage in America and provides background data of use to policy makers and health services researchers.
Many Americans believe that people who lack health insurance somehow get the care they really need. Care Without Coverage examines the real consequences for adults who lack health insurance. The study presents findings in the areas of prevention and screening, cancer, chronic illness, hospital-based care, and general health status. The committee looked at the consequences of being uninsured for people suffering from cancer, diabetes, HIV infection and AIDS, heart and kidney disease, mental illness, traumatic injuries, and heart attacks. It focused on the roughly 30 million-one in seven-working-age Americans without health insurance. This group does not include the population over 65 that is covered by Medicare or the nearly 10 million children who are uninsured in this country. The main findings of the report are that working-age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; be sicker and die sooner; and receive poorer care when they are in the hospital, even for acute situations like a motor vehicle crash.
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
Fundamentals of Insurance Coverage in All 50 States is a unique compendium and overview of all aspects of insurance coverage law in every state, with a special emphasis on some of the unique aspects of insurance coverage involving environmental claims. The treatise utilizes and cites state and federal statutes, insurance regulations, and case law from every state, as a framework for a unique and unprecedented treatment of this complicated subject. The book is designed specifically for insurance claims handlers and supervisors who have responsibility for or occasion to deal with coverage issues relating to third-party defense litigation, first-party claims litigation, and reservation of rights scenarios. In addition to being an excellent and easy to understand primer on coverage issues and the basic insurance contract, this book is suitable for both the inexperienced claims professional and the seasoned veteran. It is also the perfect "starting point" for any research or litigation briefing by trial lawyers, defense counsel, or in-house insurance counsel. It is a must for anyone with multi-state responsibilities. Fundamentals of Insurance Coverage in All 50 States compile all of the relevant law, regulations and case decisions from all 50 states into one easy to understand and easy to use reference book, the first place a lawyer or claims handler should turn when coverage matters rear their ugly heads. The book intentionally omits references to federal law, which plays a very limited role in insurance regulation, except insofar as it may be necessary to clarify issues of state law. The book is a comprehensive treatment of all coverage issues that the average insurance lawyer, claims handler or supervisor might be expected to run across in any given situation. This one of a kind treatise covers the following issues in all 50 jurisdictions: • Understanding Contracts of Insurance • Law Governing Insurance Policies • Tackling Ambiguity and Interpretation of Policies • General Contract Rules for Interpretation • Rights and Obligations of Contracting Parties • Limitations of the "Construed against Drafter" Rule • The Extent of Risks and Coverages • Good Faith and Fair Dealing; Bad Faith • Basic Policy Defenses • Cooperation of the Insured • Failure to Pay Premiums • Environmental Issues and Related Insurance Law
Public Affairs Reporting offers an inclusive and diverse perspective to public affairs reporting. It expands the traditional approach to public affairs reporting beyond the mainstay of local and regional news coverage to include virtually everything that is involved in public life: from government to the arts, religion to the environment, business to law enforcement, and more. "Professional Tips" sections in each chapter provide a series of questions and answers from professional journalists.
When policy makers and researchers consider potential solutions to the crisis of uninsurance in the United States, the question of whether health insurance matters to health is often an issue. This question is far more than an academic concern. It is crucial that U.S. health care policy be informed with current and valid evidence on the consequences of uninsurance for health care and health outcomes, especially for the 45.7 million individuals without health insurance. From 2001 to 2004, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued six reports, which concluded that being uninsured was hazardous to people's health and recommended that the nation move quickly to implement a strategy to achieve health insurance coverage for all. The goal of this book is to inform the health reform policy debateâ€"in 2009â€"with an up-to-date assessment of the research evidence. This report addresses three key questions: What are the dynamics driving downward trends in health insurance coverage? Is being uninsured harmful to the health of children and adults? Are insured people affected by high rates of uninsurance in their communities?
A lively, clear explanation of the American healthcare reform movement from a noted expert—giving women the tools they need to demand fair and affordable coverage for all people Healthcare is one of America’s most dysfunctional and confusing industries, and women bear the brunt of the problem when it comes to both access and treatment. Women, who make 80 percent of healthcare decisions for their families, are disproportionately impacted by the complex nature of our healthcare system—but are also uniquely poised to fix it. Founder and CEO of Day Health Strategies Rosemarie Day wants women to recognize their trouble with accessing affordable care as part of a national emergency. Day encourages women throughout the country to share their stories and get involved, and she illustrates how a groundswell of activism, led by everyday women, could create the incentives our political leaders need to change course. Marching Toward Coverage gives women the clear information they need to move this agenda forward by breaking down complicated topics in an accessible manner, like the ACA (Affordable Care Act), preexisting conditions, and employer-sponsored plans. With more than 25 years working in healthcare strategy and related fields, Day helps the average American understand the business of national health reform and lays out a pragmatic path forward, one that recognizes healthcare as a fundamental human right.
Health Insurance is a Family Matter is the third of a series of six reports on the problems of uninsurance in the United Sates and addresses the impact on the family of not having health insurance. The book demonstrates that having one or more uninsured members in a family can have adverse consequences for everyone in the household and that the financial, physical, and emotional well-being of all members of a family may be adversely affected if any family member lacks coverage. It concludes with the finding that uninsured children have worse access to and use fewer health care services than children with insurance, including important preventive services that can have beneficial long-term effects.
As the population of older Americans grows, it is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Differences in health by racial and ethnic status could be increasingly consequential for health policy and programs. Such differences are not simply a matter of education or ability to pay for health care. For instance, Asian Americans and Hispanics appear to be in better health, on a number of indicators, than White Americans, despite, on average, lower socioeconomic status. The reasons are complex, including possible roles for such factors as selective migration, risk behaviors, exposure to various stressors, patient attitudes, and geographic variation in health care. This volume, produced by a multidisciplinary panel, considers such possible explanations for racial and ethnic health differentials within an integrated framework. It provides a concise summary of available research and lays out a research agenda to address the many uncertainties in current knowledge. It recommends, for instance, looking at health differentials across the life course and deciphering the links between factors presumably producing differentials and biopsychosocial mechanisms that lead to impaired health.
Annotation The first comprehensive guide to insurance law written from the corporate policyholder's perspective, Policyholder's Guide to the Law of Insurance Coverage provides expert guidance through the labyrinth of legal issues surrounding insuring instruments and underlying claims, plus practical strategies and legal arguments to help you secure coverage for contested claims. Policyholder's Guide addresses virtually every insurance-related legal issue you are likely to encounter in the regular course of business, as well as those issues unique to specialized industries or unusual situations including: Liability policies -- Special liability policies -- First-party policies -- Specialty first-party property policies -- Environmental -- Marine and aviation -- Toxic tort -- Copyright claims issues Litigation in insurance coverage disputes. Policyholder's Guide gives you in-depth analysis of the latest court decisions plus current policy language and cutting-edge legal arguments thatyou may use to advance your case. You also get hundreds of case citations, footnotes, cross-references, checklists and other useful aids to make legal research easy.
