Health Insurance

Gaps in health insurance coverage—a problem that has long afflicted lowerincome U.S. families—is increasingly becoming an all-American problem. Findings from the
Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey show that, while lack of insurance
continues to be highest among families with incomes under $20,000, uninsured rates for moderate-
and middle-income earners and their families are rising, putting their health and financial security
at risk. The survey finds that most of these individuals reside in working families: Of the estimated
48 million American adults who spent any time uninsured in the past year, 67 percent were in
families where at least one person was working full time. In addition, survey respondents were
asked about problems with medical bills and accrued medical debt; difficulties in accessing needed
health care; problems managing chronic conditions; utilization of routine preventive care, like
mammograms and colonoscopies; and coordination and efficiency of care.
The Commonwealth Fund. An
economist, she is responsible for survey development, research, and policy analysis, as well
as program development and management of the Fund’s Program on the Future of Health
Insurance. Prior to joining the Fund, Dr. Collins was associate director/senior research
associate at the New York Academy of Medicine, Division of Health and Science Policy.
Earlier in her career, she was an associate editor at U.S. News & World Report, a senior
economist at Health Economics Research, and a senior health policy analyst in the New
York City Office of the Public Advocate. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from George
Washington University.
Karen Davis, Ph.D., president of The Commonwealth Fund, is a nationally recognized
economist with a distinguished career in public policy and research. Before joining the
Fund, she served as chairman of the Department of Health Policy and Management at The
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she also held an appointment
as professor of economics. She served as deputy assistant secretary for health policy in the
Department of Health and Human Services from 1977 to 1980, and was the first woman
to head a U.S. Public Health Service agency. A native of Oklahoma, she received her
doctoral degree in economics from Rice University, which recognized her achievements
with a Distinguished Alumna Award in 1991. Ms. Davis has published a number of
significant books, monographs, and articles on health and social policy issues, including the
landmark books Health Care Cost Containment; Medicare Policy; National Health Insurance:
Benefits, Costs, and Consequences; and Health and the War on Poverty.
Michelle McEvoy Doty, Ph.D., M.P.H., a senior analyst for the Health Policy,
Research, and Evaluation department at The Commonwealth Fund, conducts research
examining health care access and quality among vulnerable populations and the extent to
which lack of health insurance contributes to barriers to health care and inequities in
quality of care. She received her M.P.H. and Ph.D. in public health from the University
of California, Los Angeles.
Jennifer L. Kriss is program assistant for the Program on the Future of Health Insurance
and the State Innovations Program at The Commonwealth Fund. She is a recent graduate
of the University of North Carolina with a B.S. in Public Health.