Yet another pro-Obamacare organization has had to publish a study indicating that Obamacare is failing to achieve its objectives. I recently discussed Families USA’s report that one third of low income families cannot afford care under Obamacare.
This time it is the Commonwealth Fund, inventor of the notion of “underinsurance,” which is defined as out-of-pocket health costs (excluding premiums) comprising at least 10 percent of household income, or five percent if household income is less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
In 2014, the proportion of so-called “uninsured”, aged 18-64, was 23 percent – exactly the same as in 2012 and just one percentage point more than in 2010.
Read the entire entry at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.
Research and commentary from a former senior executive in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Showing posts with label underinsured. Show all posts
Showing posts with label underinsured. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
"Underinsured" in Germany?
Back on April 27, Senator Tom Coburn and Professor Regina Herzlinger published an op-ed (inexplicably) in the Huffington Post. Needless to day, it generated a firestorm of comments. I was just rereading it and saw this endorsement of "universal" health care, German-style, in the comments.
This woman has a €2,500 deductible and pays a monthly premium of €350, with no employer contribution. Sure, it's a plan decided by a cartel of health insurers and the government, but freedom to choose a plan other than one her employer chooses, and controlling the first €2,500 spent on ambulatory care costs looks a lot like "consumer-driven" health care. In fact, I'd bet that deductible is a lot bigger share of her real income than a similar one would be for Americans, because we earn so much more.
On the other hand, this poor woman would undoubtedly be classified as "underinsured" by the Commonwealth Fund. But let's keep that a secret: We wouldn't want her to learn that she's actually endorsing a system where patients, not government, control more of their health-care dollars.
[See M. Cannon & M. Tanner, Healthy Competition, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, p. 53) for a discussion of international comparisons of out-of-pocket spending.]
This woman has a €2,500 deductible and pays a monthly premium of €350, with no employer contribution. Sure, it's a plan decided by a cartel of health insurers and the government, but freedom to choose a plan other than one her employer chooses, and controlling the first €2,500 spent on ambulatory care costs looks a lot like "consumer-driven" health care. In fact, I'd bet that deductible is a lot bigger share of her real income than a similar one would be for Americans, because we earn so much more.
On the other hand, this poor woman would undoubtedly be classified as "underinsured" by the Commonwealth Fund. But let's keep that a secret: We wouldn't want her to learn that she's actually endorsing a system where patients, not government, control more of their health-care dollars.
[See M. Cannon & M. Tanner, Healthy Competition, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, p. 53) for a discussion of international comparisons of out-of-pocket spending.]
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