government
Uninsured veterans would benefit from health reform law, report says
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 4, 2012
Coverage provisions in the health system reform law would help increase coverage among many uninsured veterans and their families, according to a report prepared by the Urban Institute and released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
About 1.3 million veterans and nearly 950,000 of their family members are uninsured, “together making up 4.8% of the nation’s 47.3 million uninsured in 2010,” the report stated. More than 40% of uninsured veterans report having unmet medical needs, and about a third have delayed care due to costs.
The report stated that under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 50% of uninsured veterans would qualify for expanded Medicaid coverage and 40% potentially could qualify for government-subsidized coverage through health insurance exchanges, provided they don’t have access to affordable employer coverage.
However, nearly 40% of uninsured veterans and their relatives live in states that have made the least progress toward implementing health insurance exchanges. “Success in covering uninsured veterans will depend largely on aggressive ACA implementation and enrollment efforts nationwide,” the report concluded.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/06/04/gvbf0604.htm.
