Uninsured Health Insurance Case Analysis

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Key Players: The accessibility of employer-sponsored health insurance has dropped about 10% over the past 10 years. With the drop in sponsorship, the total number of Americans that are uninsured has increased. Monthly premiums have approximately doubled within the past few years. With the rising cost of insurance and stagnant incomes, this puts families in a tight situation. Many employers are paying portions of the premium for the employee’s health coverage. In the past few years, employees have seen their employer paying a lesser percentage of the premiums, which leads the majority of the premium to the employee. The economy has faced a decline in the number of jobs that are available for some Americans. This leads to people taking a position…show more content…
For years, uninsured patients have flooded hospital emergency departments seeking relief for common earaches, chronic disease management, and other non-urgent health issues. Many of these patients feel they have no other place to go, and some have never gone anywhere else to receive healthcare. However, as these patients become serial ED visitors, the sheer number of them could overwhelm some hospitals. This raises some legitimate concerns that patients with true emergencies may be left languishing in the waiting room of the ED behind someone with a sore throat and cough. Another issue is cost. Some people balk at having to pay emergency department prices after receiving nonemergency care. Obviously, if people are poor and have either no job or a low-paying job, then they may have trouble paying their ED bills. Plus, Medicaid and other forms of public coverage pay only portions of these bills. That reality coupled with the increasing volume of patients involved has caused some facilities to devise strategies for managing serial ED visitors. Many hospitals across the country have established charitable programs that provide uninsured or underinsured people with medical homes, or other healthcare options to keep them from going to the emergency department repeatedly and…show more content…
Eligible individuals would claim the tax credit on their income tax form and apply the dollar amount to the purchase of an insurance policy. Employers can gain assistance from a health tax credit through various mechanisms if they do not pay for health coverage of employees through an employer sponsored plan. Employers can incorporate the gross wages of employee’s equal to the amount that the employee would receive as the non-taxable employer’s. This amount is what the employee’s appropriate share would be of coverage offered under the employer’s health benefits plan. Additionally, employers could list bill and permit those employees that wish to use the tax credit, the option to pay his or her insurance premiums in the way of payroll deduction. The Affordable Care Act will allow uninsured Americans to have a choice of insurance. Allowing consumers to choose the best plan that suits his or her needs, will help lower the cost of health care and premiums. The Rising Number of Uninsured Americans: How adequate is our health system? (2003). International Journal of Social Economics, 30(7), 867. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docveiw/ 274692269?accountid=458 The Uninsured Patient. (2006, Febuary). The American Journal of Medicine, 19(2),

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