New America Policy Papers: 2007

In the U.S., what region of the country has nearly half of all uninsured Americans? Are they employed? What is their economic background? How about their race? Who are the uninsured? To find out, click here.

To view Health Policy Program Director Len Nichol's related presentation, click here.

The good news is that presidential candidates in both parties are talking about making health insurance and care more affordable in lots of ways. The inevitable bad news is that a few key points have become confused in escalating campaign combat. We three health economists, not affiliated with any specific campaign, feel compelled to clarify what health policy research does and does not have to say about an issue central to current campaign debates, the role of an individual requirement to purchase insurance.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) seeks to improve student learning and narrow academic achievement gaps that place low-income and minority students at a disadvantage relative to their affluent and white peers. Evidence shows that the roots of children’s academic success or failure are already firmly in place by third grade and as much as half of the black-white achievement gap already exists before children enter first grade.

Over the past two decades, policymakers, academics, and others have pursued an array of policies and strategies to help lower and middle income households to build savings and assets and access reasonably-priced financial products at mainstream institutions.  While some progress has been made, there have been few advances to delivering a high-value, affordable financial product at scale.