Health Insurance Coverage – Why Opt For This? | Top Health ...

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As most developed countries continue to move from a manufacturing-based economy to a service economy, and employee working patterns continue to evolve, health insurance coverage has become less stable. The service sector offers less access to health insurance than its manufacturing counterparts. Further, an increasing reliance on part-time and contract workers who are not eligible for coverage means fewer workers have access to employer-sponsored health insurance.

With health insurance premiums on the rise, many small employers cannot afford to offer health benefits to their employees. Companies that do offer health insurance, often require employees to contribute a larger share toward their coverage. As a result, an increasing number of people have opted not to take advantage of job-based health insurance because they cannot afford it.

How does being uninsured harm individuals and families?

*Lack of health insurance coverage compromises the health of the uninsured because they receive less preventive care, are diagnosed at more advanced disease stages, and once diagnosed, tend to receive less therapeutic care and have higher mortality rates than insured individuals. *Regardless of age, race, ethnicity, income or health status, uninsured children were much less likely to have received a well-child checkup within the past year. Research shows that almost 50 percent of children without health insurance coverage did not receive a checkup in 2003, almost twice the rate (26 percent) for children with health insurance coverage. *According to one another study, over a third of people without health insurance coverage have problems paying medical bills. The unpaid bills were substantial enough that many had been turned over to collection agencies – and nearly a quarter of the uninsured adults said they had changed their way of life significantly to pay medical bills. The impacts of living without health insurance coverage are severe. Many uninsured individuals postpone needed medical care which results in increased mortality and billions of dollars lost in productivity and increased expenses to the health care system.

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