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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – I am often asked the same question during media interviews and meetings with clients, “How can we combat the high number of uninsured in Texas and in the United States?”
To answer that question we should first take a look at who makes up the uninsured across the United States. According to the 2009 Census, the United States has more than 307 million residents, both legal and illegal. Based on the latest data from the Census Bureau there are 45.6 million Americans without Insurance coverage. That number is down from the 46 million reported in 2006, and while this is not a number to simply ignore it does not fully express the number of uninsured in America.
Of the almost 46 million uninsured, approximately 25 percent, or roughly 12 million Americans, are eligible for a current Government program such as Medicaid or The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). They may have chosen not to enroll in the programs because they were unaware of how to go through the process of obtaining coverage or did not know they were eligible for these programs. If they obtain services at a hospital, the staff will enroll them in one of the programs available so to call them “uninsured” is not accurate.
A study by former Congressional budget Office Director June O’Neill reported that 43 percent of the uninsured have incomes in excess of $55,000 per year. These individuals have chosen to “roll the dice” in hopes they will not have a need for health insurance because they are in good health.
Many reports have also listed the temporarily uninsured population at 14 percent of the total number of uninsured. These are people who are temporarily unemployed or newly hired and are in a waiting period for coverage. Citizens who fall into this category are without insurance for 12 months or less during the transition period.
What is left after we take out the temporarily uninsured, the risk takers and those covered by Government plans is the true number of uninsured in America. About 18 percent of the uninsured or just a little more than 8 million Americans do not have insurance coverage which equates to 2.61 percent of the total US population.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to financially assist those members with their medical costs rather than try and restructure the entire insurance industry for 97.39 percent of the US population?
About the Texas Association of Health Underwriters
A state chapter of the National Association of Health Underwriters, TAHU is a professional organization of agents and insurance company representatives aiming “…to inform and protect the consumer by enhancing the professional growth of its members.” Since its founding in 1930, there are now over 200 state and local chapters of the NAHU servicing the insurance needs of millions of Americans. More information can be accessed at www.TAHU.org.
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