In this brief, SHARE grantee Mike O'Grady (NORC, University of Chicago) details the process of linking data sets, gives an overview of data linkage projects that have been undertaken to date

Several states have either passed or proposed legislation requiring employers to offer their employees the ability to pay for health insurance on a pre-tax basis through a "cafeteria" (or "premium-only") plan under section 125 of the tax code (a "section 125 plan"). Prior to these initiatives, many employers voluntarily established section 125 plans for this purpose. Recently, some authorities have raised a serious concern about the legality of this arrangement under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

Blewett, L. A. and S. K. Hofrenning. 1997. “Minnesota: The Land of Nonprofit HMOs.” Minnesota Medicine 80 (4): 21-24.

Schultz, J., K. T. Call, R. Feldman, and J. Christianson. 2001. “Do Employees use Report Cards to Access Health Care Provider Systems?” Health Services Research 36 (3): 509-530.

This report was released for the 2006 Cover the Uninsured Campaign, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. This report includes data from an ongoing federal survey of employers to examine trends in employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and take-up rates across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. May 2006.