Web Exclusive Addresses Hospital Patient Safety Efforts; Study Examines Continuously Uninsured Population

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 10 Oct 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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"Is Hospital Patient Care Becoming Safer? A Conversation With Lucian Leape," Health Affairs: The Health Affairs Web exclusive features a discussion on patient safety between Leape, an adjunct professor of health policy in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Peter Buerhaus, the Valere Potter Distinguished Professor of Nursing and director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Leape says patient safety in hospitals is improving, and it is possible to get to a level where there are no medical errors or injuries. Leape and Buerhaus also discuss barriers to achieving that goal (Leape/Buerhaus, Health Affairs, 10/9).

"The Long-Term Uninsured in America, 2002-2005: Estimates for the U.S. Population Under Age 65," Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: The study analyzes data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and finds that 17 million U.S. residents younger than age 65 could be considered continuously uninsured, meaning they have not had health care coverage for at least four years. According to the report, middle-income residents, or those with incomes between 200% and 400% of the federal poverty level, account for about one-third of the continuously uninsured, while people with incomes at or below the poverty level comprise about one quarter of the continuously uninsured and people with incomes greater than 400% of the poverty level account for 10%. In addition, the study found that 17% of Hispanics were continuously uninsured, compared with 7% of blacks and 4% of whites (Rhoades/Cohen, "The Long-Term Uninsured in America, 2002-2005: Estimates for the U.S. Population Under Age 65," August 2007).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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