Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Growing Number Of Underinsured Americans
There has been a lot of focus on the growing number of Americans who have no health insurance coverage, but that’s not the only problem.
There are also an increasing amount of people who are underinsured — that is, they have some health coverage, but not enough.
According to a new study by the health research foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, one in five people who have health insurance don’t have a sufficient amount of coverage.
In total, it adds up to roughly 25 million citizens — a 60 percent increase since 2003, reported The New York Times.
The groups that were most likely to be underinsured were middle-class workers who were self-employed or employed by a small firm.
What does it mean to be underinsured?
The survey found that those who didn’t have enough coverage were at risk of medical bills higher than 10 percent of their annual incomes, wrote the Times article.
Many who are underinsured also didn’t get needed preventive care, cancer screenings, prescription drugs, and recommended specialist care.
“The underinsured look a lot like the uninsured,” said Cathy Schoen, the author of the Commonwealth study.
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