Nearly one-fifth of population in the United States does not have health insurance cover. This number seems to be rising with each passing year. A study has revealed that the absence of a health insurance policy leads to extensive monetary difficulties. Uninsured individuals tend to ignore problems that need medical attention.
They skip diagnostic tests and do not seek medical guidance on time. The resulting delay makes their medical condition worse, chronic or at times, even untreatable. Even if they take treatment, the quality of service that they get is not at par with that of the insured lot. On the whole, the uninsured population suffers from poorer health as compared to the insured population.
People Do Not Take Health Insurance: Reasons And Remedies
In order to build plans to insure the maximum number of people, one must understand the reasons for a large number of people being uninsured. The main factors responsible are rise in the cost of health care services, attrition of insurance being offered by the employers, decrease in public programs and economic recession.
As the cost of medical services increases, the cost of health insurance also increases. This results in higher premiums for health insurance. This is a big deterrent for people, especially adults, who are below fifty years of age and children. In order to cover a larger number of people under health insurance, it is important to lower the cost of premiums. This can be done in various ways. The government can grant subsidies to people who have a private health cover and make public insurance more widely available for people.
Employer-based insurance is a very effective way of insuring a large number of people. But as more and more companies are changing their policies and excluding health cover from their list of perks, the number of uninsured people is gradually increasing. Even the government does not have enough public programs to ensure health insurance for every citizen. More participation from the government is needed to ascertain that each individual receives prompt and good medical facilities.
Economic recession has also taken a toll on our lives. Taking insurance means that you are committing yourself to payment of premium. In absence of health insurance, you will not have any such obligation. This is also another big reason why people are not taking a health cover.
Based on the above factors, the government can formulate plans to ensure involvement of all citizens in health care plans. It is extremely important that each individual is medically insured because insurance plays a major role in having access to good medical care and services, resulting in overall good health.