Why is number without health insurance increasing?

Why is the number of uninsured people increasing?

rg...

Rita...

Yes, a number of small businesses could band together to form
a larger risk pool and thus lower costs of the insurance.

Great idea. Only problem is that it is not permitted by insurance companies
so you are going to have to enact some new legislation, get it past the
enormously powerful insurance lobby to change it.

js...

write your congressman (interesting who the sponsor are...)

* Millions of workers don't have the opportunity to get coverage.
A third of firms in the U.S. did not offer coverage in 2004 (2).
* Nearly two-fifths (38 percent) of all workers are employed in
smaller businesses, where less than two-thirds of firms now offer
health benefits to their employees. (4)It is estimated that 266,000
companies dropped their health coverage between 2000-2005 and 90
percent of those firms have less than 25 employees.
* Rapidly rising health insurance premiums is the main reason
cited by all small firms for not offering coverage. Health insurance
premiums are rising at extraordinary rates. Over the past five years
the average annual increase in inflation has been 2.5 percent while
health insurance premiums for small firms have escalated an average of
15 percent annually (2).
* Even if employees are offered coverage on the job, they can't
always afford their portion of the premium. Employee spending for
health insurance coverage (employee's share of family coverage) has
increased 143 percent between 2000 and 2005. (5)

Lee K...

There is the insurance term 'adverse selection' that applies here: workers
who are young and healthy opt out of the insurance coverage leaving the
remaining pool of insureds less young and less healthy on average and thus
more expensive to insure. The resulting higher premiums drive out more
workers and reduces the pool size which increases the premiums again.
Since employers are typically shouldering most of the premiums for health
insurance, it is easy to see why these increases, as well as the increases
associated with health care inflation, cause the small employer to drop
health insurance altogether.

Rita...

Yes, that is the way the system works presently. I believe there has
to be some form of mandatory health insurance coverage -- one people
can't opt out of. And a means to form larger risk groups to avoid the
problem of too small a group represented by one small employer. There
could still be government subsidies for the poor, etc., and the
elderly. But it is important to find a way so that all who can afford
health coverage have it by one means or another. I am not wedded to
any one plan. The problem is NOT unable to be solved. Other nations
have chosen different means to reach this goal. I'd like to see how
what we have now in the U.S. can be built on to bring about universal
coverage, cradle to grave. Why is it that the U.S., so advanced in so
many areas, can't solve this problem?

* Losing a job, or quitting voluntarily, can mean losing
affordable coverage - not only for the worker but also for their
entire family. Only seven (7) percent of the unemployed can afford to
pay for COBRA health insurance - the continuation of group coverage
offered by their former employers. Premiums for this coverage average
almost $700 a month for family coverage and $250 for individual
coverage, a very high price given the average $1,100 monthly
unemployment check (6).
* Coverage is unstable during life's transitions. A person's link
to employer-sponsored coverage can also be cut by a change from
full-time to part-time work, or self-employment, retirement or divorce
(7).
* About 58 percent of uninsured adults report having changed or
lost jobs in 2003. "Job lock" keeps others in positions they might
have left if not for fear of losing coverage. Job mobility of husbands
is 25 percent to 32 percent lower when their wives do not have
employment-based health insurance (7).

Why is the number of uninsured people increasing?

* Millions of workers don't have the opportunity to get coverage.
A third of firms in the U.S. did not offer coverage in 2004 (2).
* Nearly two-fifths (38 percent) of all workers are employed in
smaller businesses, where less than two-thirds of firms now offer
health benefits to their employees. (4)It is estimated that 266,000
companies dropped their health coverage between 2000-2005 and 90
percent of those firms have less than 25 employees.
* Rapidly rising health insurance premiums is the main reason
cited by all small firms for not offering coverage. Health insurance
premiums are rising at extraordinary rates. Over the past five years
the average annual increase in inflation has been 2.5 percent while
health insurance premiums for small firms have escalated an average of
15 percent annually (2).
* Even if employees are offered coverage on the job, they can't
always afford their portion of the premium. Employee spending for
health insurance coverage (employee's share of family coverage) has
increased 143 percent between 2000 and 2005. (5)
* Losing a job, or quitting voluntarily, can mean losing
affordable coverage - not only for the worker but also for their
entire family. Only seven (7) percent of the unemployed can afford to
pay for COBRA health insurance - the continuation of group coverage
offered by their former employers. Premiums for this coverage average
almost $700 a month for family coverage and $250 for individual
coverage, a very high price given the average $1,100 monthly
unemployment check (6).
* Coverage is unstable during life's transitions. A person's link
to employer-sponsored coverage can also be cut by a change from
full-time to part-time work, or self-employment, retirement or divorce
(7).
* About 58 percent of uninsured adults report having changed or
lost jobs in 2003. "Job lock" keeps others in positions they might
have left if not for fear of losing coverage. Job mobility of husbands
is 25 percent to 32 percent lower when their wives do not have
employment-based health insurance (7).
Why is the number of uninsured people increasing?

* Millions of workers don't have the opportunity to get coverage.
A third of firms in the U.S. did not offer coverage in 2004 (2).
* Nearly two-fifths (38 percent) of all workers are employed in
smaller businesses, where less than two-thirds of firms now offer
health benefits to their employees. (4)It is estimated that 266,000
companies dropped their health coverage between 2000-2005 and 90
percent of those firms have less than 25 employees.
* Rapidly rising health insurance premiums is the main reason
cited by all small firms for not offering coverage. Health insurance
premiums are rising at extraordinary rates. Over the past five years
the average annual increase in inflation has been 2.5 percent while
health insurance premiums for small firms have escalated an average of
15 percent annually (2).
* Even if employees are offered coverage on the job, they can't
always afford their portion of the premium. Employee spending for
health insurance coverage (employee's share of family coverage) has
increased 143 percent between 2000 and 2005. (5)
* Losing a job, or quitting voluntarily, can mean losing
affordable coverage - not only for the worker but also for their
entire family. Only seven (7) percent of the unemployed can afford to
pay for COBRA health insurance - the continuation of group coverage
offered by their former employers. Premiums for this coverage average
almost $700 a month for family coverage and $250 for individual
coverage, a very high price given the average $1,100 monthly
unemployment check (6).
* Coverage is unstable during life's transitions. A person's link
to employer-sponsored coverage can also be cut by a change from
full-time to part-time work, or self-employment, retirement or divorce
(7).
* About 58 percent of uninsured adults report having changed or
lost jobs in 2003. "Job lock" keeps others in positions they might
have left if not for fear of losing coverage. Job mobility of husbands
is 25 percent to 32 percent lower when their wives do not have
employment-based health insurance (7.