Social insurance is a subject I have been studying for nearly 40 years. The intellectual and policy revolution in social insurance that is occurring around the world is among the most significant and positive developments of current economics. Social insurance programs have become the most important, the most expensive, and often the most controversial aspect of government domestic policy, not ...

BACKGROUND There is little current information about the unmet mental health care need (UMHCN) and reasons for it among those exposed to the World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attacks. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of UMHCN among symptomatic individuals enrolled in the WTC Health Registry (WTCHR) in 2011-2012, and to analyze the relationship between UMHCN due to attitudinal,...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of health insurance on resource mobilization, financial protection, service utilization, quality of care, social inclusion and community empowerment in low- and lower-middle-income countries in Africa and Asia. METHODS A systematic search for randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental and observational studies published before the end of 2011 was conduct...

Starr began by describing four "encumbrances of history" that have shaped delivery of health care in America. One he termed the "welfare piggyback," referring to the channeling of governmental health services for the poor through public assistance rather than through a universal social insurance system or a national public health service, the two systems employed in Europe. The social insurance...

Understanding social inequalities in health is of great importance; it provides the conceptual frame for investigating the social factors that affect health, together with empirical evidence for improving population health. Individual and socioeconomic data, disease related conditions and self rated health (SRH) ratings were collected from a representative sample of 1,000 participants in order ...

Background Thirteen percent of Latinos in Massachusetts lack health insurance, the highest rate of any ethnic or racial group. Families without health insurance are more likely to be in poor or fair health, to lack a regular medical provider, and to not have visited a medical provider in the past year. Context The Latino Health Insurance Program is designed as a response both to the high rate o...