The "Insure The Uninsured Project (ITUP)" Coverage Expansion Proposal: Summary and Estimated Cost and Coverage Impacts

Publication Date: January 2002

Publisher: Lewin Group

Author(s): Lewin Group

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Coverage: California

Abstract:

The Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP) has introduced a proposal to expand health insurance coverage in California through a combination of public and private insurance. There are five major components of the ITUP proposal, including: An Employer Tax Credit to encourage more employers to offer coverage to their workers; Enrollment of families under Medi-Cal and Healthy Families in employer plans when possible and cost effective; A tax credit for individuals who do not have access to employer-sponsored coverage; Individual health insurance market reforms; and Coverage expansion under Medi-Cal and Healthy Families.

In this paper, we outline the major components of the ITUP proposal and summarize the key assumptions used to simulate their impacts. We then present our preliminary estimates of the proposal's impacts.