The employer based health insurance system is crumbling which is resulting in more uninsured people with more limited access to much needed health services. Latest state level reforms try to focus on lower income families with new variations on employer and personal health insurance coverage responsibilities. States are targeting near universal coverage while keeping a focus on providing more coverage for children or partnership between public and private insurance groups to help insure low income workers. Alarming figures show that the number of uninsured can rise to 56 million by 2013. With a seeming lack of action from the federal level, many state leaders have taken it upon themselves to enact reforms at the state level.
Health Insurance Savings is being offered by business companies to the employees as a group and is now an option for small businesses also. Health insurance savings account aids in saving the money from the account which could be used for future medical expenses. In which case, the money in the account could still grow through investment earnings. The Health Insurance Savings premium could be lowered if the health insurance coverage is switched with a higher deductible resulting to favorable tax treatment. People under 65 years of age who own a high- deductible policy are qualified to open an account.
In order for more Americans to gain quality, affordable and portable health insurance, it would be best that health insurance be allowed to be purchased across state lines by removing the artificial regulatory barriers. This way, there will be more accesses and choices. The current situation in America is that people are allowed to buy insurance that are available only in their home state. They do not have access to look for better deals in another state. The choices and options for every individuals and businesses are being limited because health insurance marketplace is separated in each and every state.
A significant issue for workers, businesses and the government is the rising and growing cost of healthcare. It is projected that 16.2 percent of the gross domestic product or GDP of the United States would be spent on healthcare in 2007 alone. This statistic has grown considerably faster than the economy since the 1960s. Projected statistics places the spending cost at approximately $7,500 for every American or a total of $2.2 trillion for the healthcare cost in 2007. In 1970, the figure was about $365 for every American and $75 billion for the year. Side by side with GDP, healthcare cost has risen 2.4 percent faster since 1970. The U.S. appropriates more of its economy in healthcare expenditure more than any other developed country in the World.
“Buyer Beware” may be an old saying but is still applicable nowadays especially with health insurance quote online. It may cost you a lot of time doing your homework but better safe than never because you may be saving yourself hundreds of dollars in the process. Be careful in receiving bogus information on what you actually wanted and check out first before receiving the plan you thought the health insurance quoted. It is possible that the insurance company will only pay a small portion of the bill. If the policy is only vague, you may not be aware that what you paid for is not a full insurance benefit and only a fraction is what they could cover.
The cost of health care keeps on growing faster than the economy while employers and health insurance companies that provide coverage to employees try to reconcile the difference between the demand for more health services and the ability to pay for those services. An emergence of a new strategy that may influence how private insurance will shape up in the future is seen on the horizon. The main thrust is the need for individual healthcare consumers to shoulder more financial responsibility when deciding what type of coverage and benefits they want to avail for themselves and their dependents. Even employers subscribe to the view that if employees have the power to manage their own health insurance coverage, they take greater responsibility for their health in accordance with their healthcare spending.
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More people are shopping online today – be it consumer goods, electronics, and clothes. Does this also include health insurance? Definitely! Online insurance shopping websites are increasing every month. Some of these sites are just bait websites – these sites will take your personal information and then sell them to one or more insurance agents. These insurance agents will purchase this data from companies like these for about $10-$30 each. It is a numbers game for these salesmen and a guaranteed revenue source for these online brokerages. Before you know it, multiple agents are calling you and requesting appointments to meet you.
by: Christine Zafra
There are about 45 million Americans who are not insured, and among those 45 million, about a little over 1/3 die of a rather wasteful death. Their deaths could have been prevented if they only received the right amount of medical assistance.
Bad healthcare system can result to dwindling economic implications.
1. The rising costs of premiums put unwanted strains on jobs, businesses and wages;
2. Less efficient workforce is the result of ineffective healthcare;
3. Increasing public health expenses is a serious cause of financial challenges;
4. Health care is a vital piece of the puzzle of economic safekeeping.
Photo taken from http://erichamilton.pbwiki.com
By year end of 2006, the number of uninsured Americans increased by 2.1 million which brings the total number of uninsured non-elderly Americans to 46.5 million. With employer based coverage dropping and premium payments rising, many Americans of different income levels are caught in a bind. Medicaid and State Childrens Health Insurance Program may help to cover lower income children who lost access to employer based coverage; the same cannot be said with those belonging to middle income families where Medicaid and SCHIP is in short supply. Majority of the increase in uninsured children come from the income levels between 200 percent and 399 percent of the federal poverty level.
Leaders in the community recognized the rising number of uninsured residents that cannot avail of traditional health insurance. In an effort to arrive at a solution, health care providers, business leaders and community groups were involved in the process. Together they came up with a health care plan that would benefit the working people and the indigent. Residents can avail of this until such time that their economic condition improves and can move to private health insurance.
This innovative step helped provide effective health insurance coverage to those who were previously uninsured. This program also included coverage for families with children.
Source: aspe.hhs.gov