How many people dont have health insurance

This means that nearly one-third of Americans face each day without the security of knowing that, if and when they need it, medical care is available to them and their families.

Having no health insurance also often means that people will postpone necessary care and forego preventive care - such as childhood immunizations and routine check-ups-completely. Because the uninsured usually have no regular doctor and limited access to prescription medications, they are more likely to be hospitalized for health conditions that could have been avoided.

Delaying care for fear of medical bills is a downward spiral that leads to ultimately higher health care costs for all of us. More than one third of uninsured adults reported they have problems paying their bills, which helps explain why many of the uninsured don't seek out the care they need until the last minute.

But when an uninsured person is in crisis and cannot pay, that burden falls upon the insured population, the hospitals, the doctors and the government.

And these billions of dollars of "uncompensated care" drive up health insurance premiums for everyone. They're at risk of not getting regular care when they need it.

The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion reports that six in 10 Americans have been diagnosed with a chronic health condition, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or being overweight or obese. Preventive care is crucial to spotting illness or conditions early before they can develop into full-blown critical problems, according to De La Torre. Catching health problems early increases the probability of successful treatment and also reduces healthcare costs for treatment.

And as a result, for several years, medical debt has been the No. According to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association , Consumers with massive medical debt are less likely to be able to save money and more susceptible to the type of financial strain that leads to forgoing necessities and borrowing money, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. However, on Dec.

As of , Americans without health insurance are not taxed by the government. However, individuals and families who choose to go without health insurance do so at their own risk.

Healthcare is expensive—even with insurance. The inability to seek treatment for health conditions and the crushing weight of medical bills are two big reasons to obtain coverage. National Center for Health Statistics. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service. Transamerica Institute. Healthcare Consumer Study ," Page Accessed Sept. See if you'll owe a fee.

Similarly, the sheer number of Americans that were uninsured dropped considerably since the implementation of this act. However, as we will see later on, the new Trump administration does not believe in the benefits offered by Obamacare and is, therefore, doing its best to dismantle the system and return to traditional healthcare regulations.

It is believed that this initiative is a direct reason why the rates of uninsured Americans have increased over the last couple of years. So far, President Trump has not managed to stop the program in its entirety, yet several changes have already been implemented. These include, but are not limited to:. Obamacare necessitates that all US residents must have some form of health insurance — failure to do so would lead to a penalty. The purpose of this policy was to get as few uninsured Americans as possible to help keep insurance premiums low since more people actively contributed to the health insurance fund.

The ACA was designed to be all-inclusive for US citizens, yet if approved, this policy change would make it obligatory for residents of certain states to prove that they are an employee, or in school. This makes access less inclusive and theoretically goes against the original ACA uninsured definition. Likewise, the end plan is a complete rework of the Obamacare program, meant to suit the current interests of the US Government.

Regardless, the best solutions can only be analyzed over-time, so the impact of these new policies is not yet known. The market had to deal with the recent changes pushed by the Trump Administration that introduced several policies meant to limit private insurance policies on the marketplaces created by Obamacare.

Similarly, enrollment has now been limited once again to Medicaid. Therefore, Americans now need to respect different criteria to be eligible for enrollment with an insurance provider, thus influencing the uninsured rate. The luckiest individuals, in this case, are those who receive health insurance as part of their employment.

An important aspect worth considering is that any policy change regardless of whether it is positive or negative , is bound to affect the popularity of the respective policy, judging how most people have a hard time adapting to change. Over the last couple of years, numerous policy changes have been introduced to the US healthcare market, creating unnecessary public confusion and making it more difficult for people to make the right choice.

The quality of life and access to quality healthcare tend to vary across the US states. The chart below is meant to present the numbers for , in each of the states.

The highest rates for uninsured individuals seem to be in Texas, where the US Census Bureau shows a rate of Other states have gone through significantly stronger trends; some of the other states with low insurance numbers include Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida, Alaska, Mississippi, Nevada, Idaho, North Carolina, Arizona, and South Carolina, as indicated by the percentage of Americans without health insurance.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have states where insurance rates for adults are considerably higher. The state with the lowest rate of uninsured adults is Massachusetts where studies indicate that only 3. Children are also well covered in this area; only 1. The US government published a report stating that a total of 8. This is a decrease when compared to past years, and reasons tend to differ. Some of the main arguments quoted by officials include the fact that more Americans are now employed, thus receive health insurance coverage through their employers.

Some of the other reasons include budgetary cuts associated with the promotion of the program, but also the appearance of numerous other insurance options that are deemed as competitive. Obamacare statistics reveal that the number of insured Americans will continue to drop if the Trump administration refuses to further promote the Affordable Care Act.

This is unlikely to happen, but people throughout the US are now actively hoping that a new insurance regulatory framework will be released, for the purpose of increasing access to the healthcare system and ensuring that people throughout the country are eligible for quality and cheap medical services.

Studies have also shown that the healthcare industry in the US is quite inflated in terms of its price. Countries with different healthcare systems, such as universal healthcare, report lower spending and equal, if not higher, quality of medical practices. There are also other factors including population density, quality of life, etc. For a quick comparison, the universal healthcare system is based on obligatory health taxes for the entire population.

Whenever a person has a medical emergency, it is likely there will be enough funding to ensure that appropriate medical services can be provided. This quickly led to the appearance of private insurance providers, who make bank by offering priority medical services, alongside access to all forms of treatment and preventive services. Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.

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