Health insurance in the United States

According to the United States Census Bureau, approximately 84% of Americans have health insurance. Some 60% obtain health insurance through an employer, about 9% purchase it directly, and various government agencies provide coverage to about 27% of Americans (there is some overlap in these figures).[14] In 2006, there were 47 million people in the U.S. (16 percent of the population) who were without health insurance for at least part of that year.[14] About 37% of the uninsured live in households with an income over $50,000.[14]

[edit] Private: employer-sponsored

Health insurance paid for by business entities generally on behalf of their employees and other immediate stakeholders. Broadly classified as "Traditional/Indemnity" and "Managed/Preferred Provider." Most private health coverage in the U.S. is employment based, and the employer typically makes a substantial contribution towards the cost of coverage.[15]

Costs for employer-paid health insurance are rising rapidly: since 2001, premiums for family coverage have increased 78%, while wages have risen 19% and inflation has risen 17%, according to a 2007 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.[16]

According the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, nearly 100% of large firms offer health insurance to their employees.[17] Although much more likely to offer retiree health benefits than small firms, the percentage of large firms offering these benefits fell from 66% in 1988 to 34% in 2002.[18]

Many small employers provide employee health insurance, but the percentage offering is not as high as it is for larger employers. The types of coverage available to small employers are similar, but they do not have the same options for financing their benefit plans. In particular, self-insuring the benefits (see Self-funded health care) is not a practical option for most small employers. [19]

[edit] Private: individually purchased

Policies of health insurance obtained by individuals not otherwise covered under policies or programs elsewhere classified. Generally major medical, short term medical, and student policies. Fewer Americans are covered by individually purchased medical expense insurance than by employer-sponsored coverage. The range of products available is similar, however. Average premiums are generally somewhat lower than those for employer-sponsored coverage, but vary by age. Deductibles and other cost-sharing is also higher, on average, and the individual consumer pays the entire premium without benefit of an employer contribution.[20][6] Many states allow medical underwriting of applicants for individually purchased health insurance by insurance companies.

[edit] Private: long-term care insurance

Long-term care (LTC) insurance is growing in popularity in the U.S. Premiums have remained relatively stable in recent years. However, the coverage is quite expensive, especially when consumers wait until retirement age to purchase it. The average age of new purchasers was 61 in 2005, and has been dropping.[21]

[edit] The shift to managed care in the U.S.

Through the 1990s, managed care grew from about 25% of U.S. employees to the vast majority.
Rise of managed care in the U.S. Year Conventional plans HMOs PPOs POS plans HDHPs
1998 14% 27% 35% 24% ~
1999 10% 28% 39% 24% ~
2000 8% 29% 42% 21% ~
2001 7% 24% 46% 23% ~
2002 4% 27% 52% 18% ~
2003 5% 24% 54% 17% ~
2004 5% 25% 55% 15% ~
2005 3% 21% 61% 15% ~
2006 5% 20% 60% 13% 4%

[7]
[edit] New types of medical plans in the U.S.

One approach to addressing increasing premiums, dubbed "consumer driven health care," received a boost in 2003, when President George W. Bush signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act. The law created tax-deductible Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). An HSA is a private bank account which is un-taxed and only penalized if spent on non-medical items or services. It must be paired with a high-deductible insurance plan. HSAs enable mostly healthy people to pay less for insurance and bank money for their own health care expenses.[22] HSAs are one form of tax-preferrenced health care spending account. Others include Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), which have been superseded by the new HSAs (although existing MSAs are grandfathered), Flexible Spending Arrangments (FSAs) and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs). FSAs and HRAs are typically used as part of an employee-benefit plan.[23]

Limited Medical Benefit Plans pay for routine care and do not pay for catastrophic care. As such, they do not provide equivalent financial security to a major medical plan. Annual benefit limits can be as low as $2,000. Lifetime maximums can be very low as well.

[edit] Common health insurance terms

[24] [25]

* Annual Limit - A benefit may be limited to a certain dollar or utilization limit (example: chiropractic care may be limited to 20 visits per calendar year).
* Alternative Funding Arrangement - A hybrid funding arrangement that features benefits of both self funding and fully insured arrangements (ASO, Minimum Premium, et. al.).
* Birthday rule - many insurance companies have adopted this rule to determine which parent is primary payer when both parents cover the same dependents. Who ever has the earlier date of birth, excluding the year, is designated primary insurance carrier. Exceptions to this rule usually arise when there is a court order for one of the parents to be the primary carrier.
* Co-insurance - Generally expressed as the percentage that you pay of any covered medical services after you have paid the deductible and co-pay.
* Co-insurance limit - The dollar amount you have to pay with Co-insurance before the insurance company begins paying your bills at 100% for the remainder of the plan year.
* Co-ordination of benefits (COB) - How your plan pays when it is coordinating with another plan. There are three principle methods in US health plans.
* Co-pay - A fixed fee you pay for services rendered. Most plans cover 100% after the co-pay for services rendered, however this can be adjusted to any amount depending on how the plan is set up.
* Deductible - The fixed amount you have to pay before your insurance starts to pay.
* Deductible carry-forward - Amounts for benefits incurred in the previous year may be subject to the prior year's deductibles.
* Employee Assistance Plan - a health-related benefit for non-medical, work-place issues or employees that commonly develop into medical issues such as marital counseling, absenteeism, suicidal ideation, etc.
* Experimental/Investigational - Most insurance companies will deny coverage for any procedures or tests which have not been medically verified by clinical trials conducted by recognized bodies of physicians or scientists. Many medical providers use tests which they believe in but have not been clinically validated.
* Fully Insured - The insurance company collects the premiums and pays claims from its own money.
* Incurred But Not Paid (IBNP) - under insurance based accrual accounting, a liability for claims that have not been paid, but may or may not be received. Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) plus Reported But Not Paid (RBNP) equals IBNP. IBNP is a significant balance sheet item for insurers.
* In-Network/Participating/Par Providers - Medical providers who have an established relationship with an insurance company
* Life time maximum - The total your policy will pay out over the life of the contract. Many plans have a yearly restoration amount which will replenish the total so that after the policy money is exhausted there will still be some money in the following plan year for new claims. Life time maximums are easily avoided by switching policies or re-enrolling.
* Self-Insured - Many major U.S. and world corporations hire insurance companies and Third Party Administrators as claims and eligibility administrators to manage a health plan or trust. Many state laws do not apply to these plans due to ERISA exemption.
* Reciprocity - Most insurance plans deal with networks of doctors. If for example you have an HMO plan that allows you to see any HMO provider anywhere in the country, it is called Full Reciprocity, but if it only allows you access to local area networks of providers it is called Limited Reciprocity and if you can only go to select networks that your company has purchased access to, it is called No Reciprocity.
* No-fault - This is generally for automobile insurances, however if your auto policy is no-fault and you are injured, the medical insurance will become a secondary payer and will not be able to process claims until explanation of benefits are received from the auto insurance carrier.
* Out-of-Network/Non Participating/Non-Par Providers - Medical providers without an established relationship with an insurance company.
* Out Of Pocket Maximum - The total dollar amount paid out by a subscriber (deductible plus coinsurance).
* Subscriber - The primary member on the insurance policy. Also, "enrollee", "contractee".
* Reserve - refers to the amount that must be set aside for statutorily required funds for dissolution (terminal liability).

[edit] Health Insurance in Canada

Most health insurance in Canada is administered by each province, under the national law that requires all people to have free access to basic health services. Collectively, the public provincial health insurance systems in Canada are called Medicare. Private health insurance in Canada is allowed only for services that the public health plans do not cover; for example, semi-private or private rooms in hospitals and prescription drug plans. Canadians also must use private insurance for elective medical services such as Lasik surgery, plastic surgery such as liposuction, and other non-basic medical procedures. Private health care cannot cover physician fees which are covered by Medicare. Private-sector services not paid for by the government accounted for nearly 30 percent of total health care spending.[26]. In 2005, the Supreme Court of Quebec ruled, in Chaoulli v. Quebec, that the prohibition on insurance for health care already insured by the state constitutes an infringement of the right to life and security. It is yet to be seen if this ruling will change the overall delivery of health insurance across Canada.

[edit] Health insurance in Australia

The public health system is called Medicare. It ensures free universal access to hospital treatment and subsidised out-of-hospital medical treatment. It is funded by a 1.5% tax levy.

The private health system is funded by a number of private health insurance organisations. The largest of these is Medibank Private, which is government-owned, but operates as a government business enterprise under the same regulatory regime as all other registered private health funds; the Howard government has announced that Medibank will be privatised in 2008 assuming it is returned to office at the 2007 election. Some private health insurers are 'for profit' enterprises, and some are non-profit organizations.

Most aspects of private health insurance in Australia are regulated by the Private Health Insurance Act 2007.

The private health system in Australia operates on a "community rating" system, whereby premiums do not vary solely because of a person's previous medical history or current state of health. Balancing this are waiting periods, in particular for pre-existing conditions. Funds are entitled to impose a waiting period of up to 12 months on benefits for any medical condition the signs and symptoms of which existed during the six months ending on the day the person first took out insurance.

The Australian government has introduced a number of incentives to encourage adults to take out private hospital insurance. These include:

* Lifetime Health Cover: If a person has not taken out private hospital cover by the 1st July after their 30th birthday, then when (and if) they do so after this time, their premiums must include a loading of 2% per annum. Thus, a person taking out private cover for the first time at age 40 will pay a 10 per cent loading. The loading continues for 10 years. The loading applies only to premiums for hospital cover, not to ancillary (extras) cover.

* Medicare Levy Surcharge: People whose taxable income is greater than a specified amount (currently $50,000 for singles and $100,000 for families) and who do not have an adequate level of private hospital cover must pay a 1% surcharge on top of the standard 1.5% Medicare Levy. The rationale is that if the people in this income group are forced to pay more money one way or another, most would choose to purchase hospital insurance with it, with the possibility of a return in the event that they need private hospital treatment - rat