Insured But Not Covered
Under the Affordable Care Act, the percent of Americans who lack any health insurance has declined significantly. Put another way – more Americans have health insurance than ever. But having insurance coverage is different than being well covered by insurance. Sometimes a person can enroll in a health insurance plan, and still face the kind of out-of-pocket healthcare costs that lead to significant financial distress. That is certainly one of the findings of a recent Commonwealth Fund study, with the main results illustrated below:
Face out-of-pocket expenses equal to 10% or more of your income? You are officially underinsured. By this measure, almost a quarter of Americans were underinsured in 2014. Not a figure we should be proud of!