The purpose of this report is to enhance understanding of the politics of health insurance coverage expansion efforts, thereby increasing the probabilities that such expansions may be achieved. This study looks at recent coverage expansion efforts in five large, demographically diverse states — California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Illinois.

From the report:

This study looks at recent coverage expansion efforts in five large, demographically diverse states—California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Illinois. These states were selected for several reasons. First, in 2007, the political leaders of all five states were advocating universal or near-universal coverage. Second, the leaders’ consideration of universal coverage allowed us to study the full range and interaction of stakeholder groups in coverage expansion efforts; reform efforts focused on incremental goals usually do not induce participation from a broad array of stakeholders. Third, a focus on large, socioeconomically diverse states permitted a comparative analysis of state efforts and informed a discussion of national options. Fourth, the success or failure of these state reform efforts, as in the case of Massachusetts, can potentially influence the national debate on coverage expansion policy.

Full report:  Politics and Policy in State Health Care Reform (PDF | 451.91 KB)

UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. (2009). Politics and policy in state health reform. Zelman, W. & Melamed, A.