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Health Insurance Coverage In The United States Health insurance coverage in the United States is a voluntary system. Employers offer coverage through the private insurance market to attract and retain workers and to maintain a healthy and productive workforce. Government-sponsored health insurance programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), provide health insurance to vulnerable populations who often do not have access to employer-based insurance, such as low-income families, seniors, individuals with disabilities, children, and pregnant women. In addition, a small percentage of the population purchases health insurance through the non-group market, where an individual buys a policy directly from an insurance carrier. Data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) show that just less than 60 percent of the U.S. population was covered through employment-based insurance plans in 2004, a slight decline from 2003. Government programs provided coverage to more than 27 percent of the insured population that year, including virtually everyone over 65 years of age receiving coverage through Medicare. Government programs provide coverage for about 13 percent of the non-elderly population1.
Health insurance helps pay for the health care services that many Americans receive. Yet 45.8 million people (about 15.7 percent of the total population) were without health insurance in 2004. To access care, the uninsured must either pay out-of-pocket for services or navigate a patchwork of "free" and donated care through charity care facilities and community health centers. Uninsured individuals often delay or forgo needed health care because of its cost and, consequently, face worse health care outcomes as a result. This section of the State Coverage Initiatives Web site is intended to explain the basic issues of health insurance coverage in the United States: who are the uninsured, why are they uninsured, the consequences of uninsurance, and what options for coverage exist for the uninsured. Each topic in this section concludes with links to in-depth research and information on that topic for the reader who wishes to explore further. The consequences of insurance are broader than those experienced by the individual and his or her family:
_______________________________ 1Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Health Insurance Coverage in American 2003 Data Update, November 2004. |
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