An Adaptive Credit Plan for Covering the Uninsured

Mark V. Pauly has outlined a new proposal to reduce the number of uninsured that would:                   that could be easily modified in response to lessons learned from this new approach.     -     -    with flexible, refundable tax credits or " coupons, " redeemable for insurance premiums or a reduction in taxes, for any licensed medical-surgical insurance policy with a premium at least as large as the credit.   -    eligible for publicly provided or contracted insurance, or for equivalent-cost private insurance, with no premium share required.           to retain the tax exclusion for group coverage, until mandated to participate in the new program at some point in the future. One of the nation's leading health economists,Dr. Pauly has made significant contributions to the fields of medical economics and health insurance. His classic study on the economics of moral hazard was the first to point out how health insurance coverage may affect patients' use of medical services. He has explored the impact of conventional insurance coverage on preventive care, on outpatient care,and on prescription drug use in managed care, as well as studying the influences that determine whether insurance coverage is available and the effect of insurance use on health outcomes and cost.Dr. Pauly is co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Health Finance and Economics and an associate editor of the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty.