ADVISORY

ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan faculty members are available to discuss the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest figures on the number of Americans who lack health insurance. The 2002 Current Population Survey numbers are scheduled to be released at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday (Sept. 30).

The Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured, an interdisciplinary research project at U-M, has tables, graphs and data analysis relating to past CPS numbers as well as other data sets available at http://www.umich.edu/~eriu/cps.htm. This information might be helpful for background or for content in graphics.

These faculty are available for comment:

• Catherine McLaughlin, director of the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured, has studied various health economics topics since joining the U-M faculty in 1983. Her current research interests are focused on the uninsured, managed care, market competition, and employer and employee benefit choice. She has published many articles on the impact of HMOs on market competition and health care costs, the determinants of small area variation in hospital utilization and costs, and issues surrounding the working uninsured. http://www.sph.umich.edu/faculty/cmcl.html

• ERIU researcher Pamela Farley Short explains the problem of tracking the uninsured in an article on the initiative’s Web site. She writes that the uninsured are a dynamic, rather than static group, some quickly moving in and out of insurance plans. About half of the uninsured lack coverage for six months or less, she said, while more than 40 percent are uninsured for 18 months or longer. Read more about her findings and the difficulties in counting the insured at http://www.umich.edu/~eriu/pdf/highlight_1.pdf.

Max Heirich, professor emeritus of sociology and research scientist at the University of Michigan Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, is an expert on health care planning and policy and worksite health intervention strategies. He is author of the book “Rethinking Health Care: Innovation and Change in America.” Heirich can be reached at mheirich@umich.edu.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s press releases are available at http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/date.html Census data on health insurance: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins.html