The number of persons without health insurance programs increases annually in the United States
Introduction
The number of persons without health insurance programs increases annually in the United States. Some people may either have Medicaid or Medicare or none, where the percentage of people with both or one of the two is not at its best. A report in the United States presenting data on health insurance coverage using information gathered in the ‘American Community Survey’ (ACS) and ‘Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement’ (CPS ASEC) shows trends in the insurance sector. In 2018, an estimated 27.5 million Americans, 8.5% were uninsured throughout the year. Uninsured people increased as well as the uninsured rate from 7.9% to 8.5%. In 2018 the percentage of insured decreased by 0.4% less compared to 2017, but there was no significant change in the rate of people with exclusive coverage. Exclusive health insurance coverage extended its widespread than public coverage, awning 67.3% of the total population compared to general coverage, 34.4%. Employer-based insurance was still the most common, covering 55.1% of the persons among the sub-health insurance types. Between 2017 and 2018, the number of persons covered by Medicaid reduced by 0.7% points to 17.9%. There was an increase in the number of uninsured children who were under the age of 19 to 5.5% from 2017 to 2018, and there was an increase in the percentage of persons without any health insurance coverage in eight states while only in three states the rate decreased.
There has been an occurrence of underinsured citizens, despite the existence of health insurance throughout the year. It is caused by deductibles and high out-out-of-pocket costs. Research showed that there is a significant decline in the comprehensiveness and quality of coverage among persons in employer plans. About 158 million American people, which are more than half of people under the age of 65, access health insurance through their employers and those enrolled in Medicaid or have a plan acquired through the personal insurance market. The law mostly left the burden of health coverage to the employer market. This has affected the lives of many people; the health insurance coverage is ragging in terms of performance despite eight years of policies such as the Affordable Care Act. The aim of this literature review is to find a number of uninsured people and the health-related difficulties they go through. Propose a solution through policies and give the importance of increasing the proportion of persons with medical insurance based on two disparities: age group and family income in terms of the percent poverty threshold.
Health care
People think about health care all the time, mostly rated on the top three of most concerns. The opposition presidential candidates have or will express comprehensive healthcare proposals, whereas the current government showed efforts for repealing the Affordable Care Act. With general elections looming, it is the perfect time to bring a new health policy. It is common for states to provide subsidized health services or free of charge to all people, mostly funding for these services through taxes. This may not be the situation in developing and developed countries. A lot of persons access their healthcare either through membership fees or state health insurance projects which cover their expenses. People with various disparities such as the older adults, children, the privileged or poor people, and people with low incomes are, however, likely not to be beneficiaries of such programs even if they prone to health challenges. Some nations have made efforts to direct health insurance programs to reach vulnerable groups. These programs can be improved to make them useful. The government may amend the rules to restrict who can benefit from the program or make it easy to join. Educating people on such policies and programs is necessary since some people may still not join even if a program is improved and well designed. The application procedure may appear too tricky, or people may not know they can enroll as members.
Health insurance has a high impact on the lives of many people. Access to complete, affordable, and quality healthcare services are vital in gaining and maintain health, averting and managing diseases, preventing various disability and early deaths, and attaining health uniform healthcare for many people. This area comprises mainly of three components of health care: health services, insurance coverage, and timeliness of care. Access to health care includes oral health. Timely use of individual health offers results in improved health outcomes. It requires various efforts such as gaining access to the healthcare system through insurance cover, available health care centers and being served by a healthcare provider whom the patient can form a personal relationship through confidence and communication. High medical costs make many people bankrupt. About 56 million Americans up to the age of 65 have difficulties paying medical bills; there are also about 10 million people who are unable to clear their medical even after accessing annual insurance. Research findings show that medical bills are the primary source of consumer bankruptcy. Health reform laws have had an impact on reducing bankruptcy. Available healthcare affects one’s overall, social, physical, and mental health status and standard of life.
Medical insurance is not available to all persons because of various health disparities. There is a need to examine how people with less income and persons at different ages in life are related.
Family income
Reasonable health care and health insurance are still the main public concern. Policy proposals have been focusing on the sufficiency of financial assistance for people under the Affordable Care Act marketplaces: and ‘no group market,’ millions of individuals with low earnings access their coverage under the workplace, where it is prone to high costs. Data from the ‘Current Population Survey’ to focus on the small amounts and the dividends of family income persons in employed families with ’employer-based coverage pay out-of-pocket,’ directed to their premiums and personal payments for healthcare. Families who have fewer earnings spend a significant share of their earning on medical costs than those with more incomes and that the health condition of household members is related to higher out-of-pocket costs. Families who make below twice the ‘poverty level,’ the mean family settlements for medical insurance premiums and health care combined, have a mean of 14% of household income. Among households with employer-based coverage, merged premium subscription and out-of-pocket remittance are higher, on average, for those with sick household members than for those without a household member in ill health. This is the trend across all income categories. Persons in lower-income families incur an out-of-pocket fee of almost 14% of their earnings, on average, compared to 8% for persons in households with incomes between 200% and 400% of poverty, and 5% for individuals with revenues of 400% of privation or more.
Age group
Older people applying for health insurance are required to stake a higher premium for medical insurance because they will need more health services. However, state regulations permit the most upper cap on the cost for care, but some several states have tighter restrictions for personal medical insurance premiums as they consider age. Age is a factor that significantly influences a person’s medical insurance quote because it has a direct concern from the insurance company on the possibility of health care needs. States regulations set rules on how the Affordable Care Act-compliant aims can regulate their rates directed by the age of the policyholder; however medical plans will be costly for older applicants. A 21-year-old policyholder is the standard criteria used to find the base rate for a policy. The price is then regulated based on the age of the user. Medical insurance estimates rise as the policyholder ages, with the most significant rise after attaining 55 years. It is a reflection of the high anticipated medical care cost that awaits older Americans. At the end of the age rank, surcharge for consumers who are 64 years or older is restricted at three times the tax for a 21-year-old standard rate. In many instances, a 64-year-old would part ways with up to $1,123 per month. It is three times more costly than the price for the 21-year-old premium, which costs about $374. The age group with the most substantial difference in medical insurance expenses is for people over 50 years old, where extra costs rise from 1.79 times the 21-year-old gauge to 3 times by the age of 64 years. Health insurance premiums have evenly increased year over year, even after the execution of the Affordable Care Act. For instance, a Silver plan cost for a 40-year-old is $478, which is an increase of 78% compared to its value in 2015. A 65-year-old is eligible to join in a state’s federally catered for Medicaid program, depending on his amount of income, and his state has embraced the enlarged form of Medicaid, where family income limit is regulated to 138% of states poverty level. A 26-year-old American has to decide to stay under his parents ‘health policy’, or buy medical insurance through a state exchange.
Having more people with health insurance is a dream for every country. However, there are difficulties which make a good percentage of people being locked out. The latest data shows that for two in a row, the proportion of uninsured persons grew by almost 500,000 persons just between the years of 2017 to 2018. It is an indicator of how quickly, coverage has developed recently. It is also an evaluation of features of the uninsured community and shows financial and access impacts for not being covered. Uninsured people are mostly in the category of low-income households and have at least one employee in the family. This is a reflection of the most restricted accessibility of public coverage in some areas in the United States. Adults are the most probable to be uninsured compared to children. A person without health insurance coverage has limited access to medical care than people who are insured. In 2018, one in five people did not have access to health care due to cost. There is a trend where guaranteed easily have access to preventive care and measures for severe medical conditions and chronic diseases. Uninsured mostly find themselves with unaffordable medical bills when they need health care services. For instance, in 2018, uninsured young adults were more than twice as probable as their insured age groups to have encountered difficulties clearing medical costs in the past year. The bills accumulate rapidly into medical debts because most uninsured people have moderate or minimum income as well as little savings.
Discussion
Health insurance is a critical aspect in many people’s lives, especially middle and low-income Americans; the Affordable Care Act was enacted to curb the ever-increasing medical cost. It is an inclusive healthcare policy signed into law in 2010, formally as ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The law covers many medical-related provisions expected to enlarge health insurance coverage to many uninsured Americans. It was introduced to lower the expenses of health insurance coverage for persons who qualify. It incorporates premium tax credits and expense sharing reductions in reducing the cost for minimum income persons and families. ‘Premium tax credits’ reduces ‘health insurance bill’ each month, and ‘cost-sharing reductions’ reduces ‘out-of-pocket costs’ for copays, deductibles, and coinsurance. ‘Out-of-pocket maximum’ is also lowered, which is the whole amount paid in one year for covered health costs. The law required that ‘essential health benefits’ must be provided by all Affordable Care Act, ‘compliant plans for health insurance, including all plan leased out on ‘Health Insurance Marketplace.’ The law also demands insurance plans to cater for free to policyholders some preventive services, such as patient immunizations, patient counseling, checkups, and several health screening. It also granted states to increase ‘Medicaid coverage’ to a range of persons. Strict requirements by the Affordable Care Act includes the individual mandate. It is a cap demanding all Americans to possess a medical coverage, either through the law itself or another source, or an employer, or face high severe tax penalties. This requirement served two motives for spreading medical care to uninsured Americans and certify that there is enough vast pool of insured persons to bear health-insurance payouts.
Affordable Care Act has dramatically improved the health sector, especially in the insurance sector, and reducing unnecessary medical burdens. It has had its most measurable and notable effects to date on the presence of health insurance to the United States population and their access to care. Approximates of some uninsured people who accessed coverage from 2010, when young grownups became entitled to join their guardian or parent policies, range 7million to 16.4 million. Parties that have previously at severe risk of lacking insurance, such as unemployed, those with low incomes, and young adults, have benefited the most with coverage gains. Such improvements have been unprecedented and meaningful in the American health care system. The majority of newly insured are happy with their coverage. About three-quarters of people looking for new appointments with foremost care physicians or specialists obtained one within the first four weeks or less. Fewer Americans, for the first time in more than ten years, are now having challenges with heath bills and financial barriers in accessing care. Affordable Care Act has improved health care services through mechanisms like federal subsidies, where around 87% of marketplace consumers have qualified. The law has allowed states to enlarge their Medicaid programs, all at federal expense, to cover all adults with earnings that are at or below 138% of the central poverty line. A lot of states have capitalized on this opportunity. Three million young Americans who were previously uninsured have obtained coverage under their guardian or parents’ policies. The law requires all employers and private insurers that provide dependent coverage to cover young people until they attain 26 years, even if they are dependent for tax purposes. And most important, about 12 million Americans who previously had medical insurance not included in federal marketplaces are profiting from Affordable Care Act requirements that restrict insurers from discriminating against individuals with preexisting medical conditions or from stopping policies once individuals become sick. Under these new requirements of coverage, more than 30 million United States citizens have benefited and now have insurance.
Conclusion
Health insurance is vital in every person’s life. Medical care services have to be a concern for every American in the past decades due to its high cost. A lot of people have encountered or found themselves trapped in hospital beds with bills they cannot afford. It is sad law legislatures are divided on, which is the best health care rules for the United States. One area of concern is the penalty for not having health insurance. This is too harsh, or the government is overly concerned. The state should not be subjected to provisions that impose an economic burden on its budget. People should not be forced to access health services or have health insurance covers. Affordable Care Act can be improved in several ways like, upgrading affordability and marketplace economic stability, by regulating tax credit eligibility, supporting Affordable Care Act economic assistance, and bringing a permanent states reinsurance program for coverage that is not grouped. There can also be reinstating the personal mandate and expense sharing reductions, and banning expanded availability of insubstantial plans.
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