Uninsured and Underinsured

It is being reported that there are well over forty million individuals who are either uninsured or underinsured. What the health insurance industry leaves out of the health care equation is the breakdown of the individuals who fall into these two categories. There are many in the country that do not have health insurance coverage simply because they are wealthy and choose to pay for anything they may need.

Granted there are many individuals who are not wealthy that are uninsured but that is because they are young, relatively healthy and see no need at the moment to acquire health insurance of any kind. The ironic part is that the young who are just beginning in the world of employment are the same individuals that just left the protection of their parents.

In time when they are fortunate enough to be hired by an established employer, they will once again attain health insurance coverage through the health insurance coverage of the employer. These will make the monthly out of pocket expense even less than if they were to buy into a low cost health insurance policy independent of an employer.

Another group of individuals are those who are unemployed and therefore have had their health insurance coverage through their employer liquidated through no fault of their own. This is what happens when you leave a place of employment, you are covered by the health insurance provider for thirty days, and then it is gone.

These are the individuals who will regain their health insurance when they are once again gainfully employed with a new employer. Statistically there are twenty million individuals who are currently unemployed. This means they no longer have any type of affordable health insurance for themselves or for their family members.

Remember, family members also suffer the loss of health insurance coverage when the primary family member is no longer employed. If certain individuals are able to purchase short-term low cost health insurance temporarily, this will help until new employment is located. On average though, most families go without any type of health insurance coverage until one of the parents is gainfully employed.

There is though, a small percentage of individuals that do not want any health insurance at all and if that is what they want that is fine too. They will have to accept responsibility for themselves, but otherwise this is fine. A final small group of individuals is those who suffer from very rare disorders and diseases of which there are seldom any medical health care professionals who understand what these individuals have.

Since there is no treatment, what is the point of health insurance because there is no know medical health care available? These are the individuals who must go through life taking care of their own medical needs because there is no help available.