Health care for the poor: some policy alternatives

Changes in the financing and organization of medical care are most likely to affect adversely the poor who have significant needs for care, but face increasingly stringent eligibility criteria in Medicaid and other public programs. Americans estimated to have neither private nor public health insurance coverage number 33 million persons, and with increased cost pressures, voluntary and proprietary hospitals are less willing to treat such patients. One quarter of hospitals provide 60 percent of all care to the poor, and many of these nonprofit and public hospitals face economic difficulties and an erosion of public commitment. Alternative solutions include publicly subsidized premiums for the poor and near poor and assistance to financially stressed hospitals caring for large numbers of such persons. Mechanisms include all-payer systems, taxes on net hospital revenue or insurance premiums, or contributions from general tax revenues. Financing poses special problems, but it is also necessary to address the special needs of children and the elderly, the appropriate balance between technical and cognitive services, and new ways to maintain health and promote effective functioning. These issues pose challenges and opportunities for family practice.