Latest Reports in Health Policy

• "Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperatives," Commonwealth Fund: Cooperative purchasing arrangements to obtain health insurance have not resulted in significant reductions in premiums and have not brought savings as a result of centralized administration, Elliot Wicks of the Economic and Social Research Institute writes in the issue brief. However, if such purchasing arrangements become more popular, they could gain bargaining power and bring about savings for employers (Wicks, "Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperatives," November 2002).
  
• "Portability of Coverage: HIPAA and COBRA," Commonwealth Fund: ESRI's Jack Meyer and Larry Stepnick examine how HIPAA and COBRA affect the ability of workers to retain their health coverage when they switch or lose jobs. The authors say that the federal laws do provide workers some protections, but in general, health coverage is not portable for most employees (Meyer/Stepnick, Portability of Coverage: HIPAA and COBRA, November 2002).