 | This article needs to be updated.(March 2010) |
Health insurance costs in the United States are a major factor in access to health coverage. The rising cost of health insurance leads more consumers to go without coverage [1] and increase in insurance cost and accompanying rise in the cost of health care expenses has led health insurers to provide more policies with higher deductibles and other limitations that require the consumer to pay a greater share of the cost themselves. [2]
According to Senator Dianne Feinstein, the United States is the "only industrialized nation that relies heavily on a for-profit medical insurance industry to provide basic health care." [3] The Kaiser Family Foundation claims that health insurance costs are driven not only by the added cost of health insurers making their profits, but also by rising health costs and administrative costs. [4]
In 2004, employer-sponsored health insurance premiums grew 11.2% to $9,950 for family coverage, and $3,695 for a single person, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Education Trust. The survey also found that 61% of workers were receiving employer sponsored health insurance. [5]
Five years later, Kaiser's 2009 survey found that employer health insurance premiums were $13,375 for a family and $4,824 for a single person. About 60% of workers were receiving employer sponsored health insurance. Less than half (46%) of employees at small firms with 3 to 9 workers received coverage. As of 2008, the percentage of Americans receiving employer sponsored health insurance had declined for the eighth consecutive year, says the Kaiser Family Foundation. [6]
From 1999 to 2009, Kaiser found that the insurance premiums had climbed 131%, and workers' contribution toward paying that premium jumped 128%. In 1999, workers' average contribution to the premium was $1,543, and in 2009 it was $3,515. For employers, their contribution was $4,247 in 1999 and $9,860 in 2009. [7]
The lower a family's income is, the less likely that they can purchase health insurance, according to 2008 US Census figures. About 14.5% of households with $50,000 to $75,000 in income did not have health insurance. While 24.5% of households with $25,000 or less income went without health insurance. [8]
A March 2010 study by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a Washington DC think tank, found that out-of-pocket costs for health insurance premiums and services were rising faster than family incomes. Published in the journal Health Affairs, the study found "…After accounting for general inflation, family incomes remained stagnant between 2004 and 2006, while out-of-pocket spending on premiums and health care services increased 8.5% over the two-year period. Overall, total out-of-pocket spending increased, on average, about 5 percent annually between 2001 and 2006, and was similar for the 2001–4 and 2004–6 periods." [9] The report found the largest increases in out-of-pocket expenses were for those with private health insurance, including middle- and higher-income families. The study was based on 2001 through to 2006 data. [10]
| This section needs to be updated.(September 2019) |
People with pre-existing conditions typically cannot obtain any coverage, or at best can obtain limited coverage or more costly coverage for those conditions. This situation was expected to be corrected by the health reform bill being considered by the US Congress in early 2010. Currently, those with pre-existing conditions must pay the cost out-of-pocket, and some resort to medical tourism, obtaining treatment in other countries or US regions, to obtain more affordable health treatment. This is especially difficult for those impacted by cancer, heart condition and other serious illnesses where treatment costs can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars or higher within a few days or weeks. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 21 percent of those who apply for health insurance on their own are turned down, charged a higher price or denied coverage for their pre-existing condition. [11] Among the conditions that be considered "pre-existing" by insurance companies are domestic violence, cancer, asthma, depression and occupations such as police officer and construction worker. [12] [13]
The 9 million self-employed workers have a greater challenge than many people to find affordable health insurance. They represent 8 percent of the US labor force, and essentially pay a tax on their health insurance premiums, unlike any other workers. They pay a tax of 15.3 percent of their net earnings, double the rate of wage and salary earners. [14]
For Americans earning less than $24,000 per year, few have health insurance, or, they rely on government insurance (Medicaid). In this income bracket, more than half of people ages 27 to 37 do not have health insurance. This number drops when people reach their 40s, but even into their late 50s, more than one-third of these Americans are uninsured. [15] When new health reform laws take effect, low-income families will receive subsidies to help them pay for health insurance. These subsidies will paid through higher taxes paid by people with higher incomes. [16]
Medicare is a federal health insurance program in the United States for people age 65 or older and younger people with disabilities, including those with end stage renal disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It was begun in 1965 under the Social Security Administration (SSA) and is now administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Health insurance or medical insurance is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among many individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health risk and health system expenses over the risk pool, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to provide the money to pay for the health care benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The benefit is administered by a central organization, such as a government agency, private business, or not-for-profit entity.
The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program is a system of "managed competition" through which employee health benefits are provided to civilian government employees and annuitants of the United States government. The government contributes 72% of the weighted average premium of all plans, not to exceed 75% of the premium for any one plan.
Health care prices in the United States of America describe market and non-market factors that determine pricing, along with possible causes as to why prices are higher than in other countries.
The Massachusetts health care reform, commonly referred to as Romneycare, was a healthcare reform law passed in 2006 and signed into law by Governor Mitt Romney with the aim of providing health insurance to nearly all of the residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Healthy Americans Act(HAA), also known as the Wyden-Bennett Act, is a Senate bill that had proposed to improve health care in the United States, with changes that included the establishment of universal health care. It would transition away from employer-provided health insurance, to employer-subsidized insurance, having instead individuals choose their health care plan from state-approved private insurers. It sought to make the cost of health insurance more transparent to consumers, with the expectation being that this would increase market pressures to drive health insurance costs down. The proposal created a system that would be paid for by both public and private contributions. It would establish Healthy Americans Private Insurance Plans (HAPIs) and require those who do not already have health insurance coverage, and who do not oppose health insurance on religious grounds, to enroll themselves and their children in a HAPI. According to its sponsors, it would guarantee universal, affordable, comprehensive, portable, high-quality, private health coverage that is as good or better than Members of Congress have today; A 2008 preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office concluded it would be "essentially" self-financing in the first year that it was fully implemented.
In the United States, health insurance helps pay for medical expenses through privately purchased insurance, social insurance, or a social welfare program funded by the government. Synonyms for this usage include "health coverage", "health care coverage", and "health benefits". In a more technical sense, the term "health insurance" is used to describe any form of insurance providing protection against the costs of medical services. This usage includes both private insurance programs and social insurance programs such as Medicare, which pools resources and spreads the financial risk associated with major medical expenses across the entire population to protect everyone, as well as social welfare programs like Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, which both provide assistance to people who cannot afford health coverage.
In the United States, health insurance coverage is provided by several public and private sources. During 2019, the U.S. population overall was approximately 330 million, with 59 million people 65 years of age and over covered by the federal Medicare program. The 273 million non-institutionalized persons under age 65 either obtained their coverage from employer-based or non-employer based sources, or were uninsured. During the year 2019, 89% of the non-institutionalized population had health insurance coverage. Separately, approximately 12 million military personnel received coverage through the Veteran's Administration and Military Health System.
In the United States, health insurance marketplaces, also called health exchanges, are organizations in each state through which people can purchase health insurance. People can purchase health insurance that complies with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at ACA health exchanges, where they can choose from a range of government-regulated and standardized health care plans offered by the insurers participating in the exchange.
The healthcare reform debate in the United States has been a political issue focusing upon increasing medical coverage, decreasing costs, insurance reform, and the philosophy of its provision, funding, and government involvement.
Healthcare rationing in the United States exists in various forms. Access to private health insurance is rationed on price and ability to pay. Those unable to afford a health insurance policy are unable to acquire a private plan except by employer-provided and other job-attached coverage, and insurance companies sometimes pre-screen applicants for pre-existing medical conditions. Applicants with such conditions may be declined cover or pay higher premiums and/or have extra conditions imposed such as a waiting period.
In the context of healthcare in the United States, a pre-existing condition is a medical condition that started before a person's health insurance went into effect. Before 2014, some insurance policies would not cover expenses due to pre-existing conditions. These exclusions by the insurance industry were meant to cope with adverse selection by potential customers. Such exclusions have been prohibited since January 1, 2014, by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
A health insurance mandate is either an employer or individual mandate to obtain private health insurance instead of a national health insurance plan.
Informally, a Cadillac plan is any unusually expensive health insurance plan, usually arising in discussions of medical-cost control measures in the United States. The term derives from the Cadillac automobile, which has represented American luxury goods since its introduction in 1902, and as a health care metaphor dates to the 1970s. The term gained popularity in the early 1990s during the debate over the Clinton health care plan of 1993, and was also widespread during debate over possible excise taxes on "Cadillac" plans during the health care reforms proposed during the Obama administration.
There were a number of different health care reforms proposed during the Obama administration. Key reforms address cost and coverage and include obesity, prevention and treatment of chronic conditions, defensive medicine or tort reform, incentives that reward more care instead of better care, redundant payment systems, tax policy, rationing, a shortage of doctors and nurses, intervention vs. hospice, fraud, and use of imaging technology, among others.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment, it represents the U.S. healthcare system's most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
In the United States, individually purchased health insurance is health insurance purchased directly by individuals, and not those provided through employers. Self-employed individuals receive a tax deduction for their health insurance and can buy health insurance with additional tax benefits. According to the US Census Bureau, about 9% of Americans are covered under individual health insurance. In the individual market, consumers pay the entire premium without an employer contribution, and most do not receive any tax benefit. The range of products available is similar to those provided through employers. However, average out-of-pocket spending is higher in the individual market, with higher deductibles, co-payments and other cost-sharing provisions. Major medical is the most commonly purchased form of individual health insurance.
Health care finance in the United States discusses how Americans obtain and pay for their healthcare, and why U.S. healthcare costs are the highest in the world based on various measures.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is divided into 10 titles and contains provisions that became effective immediately, 90 days after enactment, and six months after enactment, as well as provisions phased in through to 2020. Below are some of the key provisions of the ACA. For simplicity, the amendments in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 are integrated into this timeline.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often shortened to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or nicknamed Obamacare, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment, it represents the U.S. healthcare system's most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Once the law was signed, provisions began taking effect, in a process that continued for years. Some provisions never took effect, while others were deferred for various periods.
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