Assignment 1
Shante Trumpet
Dr. Debbie Chotkevys
HSA 510
10/21/11

Describe how you would assess the impact of the health care issue you selected in microeconomic terms.
Most existing work on the price elasticity of demand for health insurance focuses on employees' decisions to enroll in employer-provided plans. However, any attempt to achieve universal coverage must focus on the uninsured, the vast majority of who are not offered employer-sponsored insurance. A survey was conducted to survey assess the willingness to pay for a health plan among a large sample of uninsured Americans. The experiment yields price elasticities substantially greater than those found in most previous studies. We use these results to estimate coverage expansion under the Affordable Care Act, with and without an individual mandate. We estimate that 39 million uninsured individuals would gain coverage and find limited evidence of adverse selection. In the United States, the economy shapes the complex interactions among employment, health coverage, and costs, as well as financial access to care and health outcomes. In economic downturns, few employers drop health coverage or restrict employee eligibility. More commonly, they reduce costs by changing benefits and cost-sharing provisions. Employees in low-wage jobs, working in small firms, and those in certain industries have been far more likely than others to have been uninsured when they lost their jobs, but this recession is affecting a broader swath of the workforce. Research on the effects of economic cycles on health status is confusing. Apart from the current economic downturn, the design and cost of employer-sponsored coverage have also changed over time, and more people are finding work that does not offer health benefits. The recession has kept patients from seeking inpatient and elective services. Physicians and