The sixth annual Cover the Uninsured Week is underway! Organized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the project is a national effort to highlight the forty-seven million Americans, including more than 9 million children, that are uninsured. 

A recent article in the New York Times explains that early retirees, those between the ages of 55-64 years, face increased difficulty when trying to access health insurance coverage in the individual market.  With less than a third of employers offering retiree health benefits, early retirees are struggling to gain and maintain adequate health coverage prior to becoming eligible for Medicare.

As out-of-pocket healthcare expenses remain a predominant issue, the Henry I Kaiser Family Foundation releases a study which compares the financial assets of uninsured households to cost-sharing requirements in consumer-driven health plans that utilize Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).  The study found that uninsured households typically have fewer financial assets which may create difficulties when paying for the high deductible often equated with these health plans.

Health Savings Accounts, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003, were originally part of the Medicare Prescription, Improvement, and Modernization Act.  Thought to put more control into the hands of individuals and thus more mindfulness on health expenditures, these health plans allow for funds to be put into an account which can be used after a deductible is met.  However, with the typically high deductible, many households do not have the financial assets to gain access to their HSAs.  According to Kaiser's news release, "About one-third (33 percent) of households with at least two uninsured members had gross financial assets of at least $2,000, the minimum deductible for an HSA-qualified family plan in 2004, and only 9 percent had enough of these assets to cover the out-of-pocket maximum ($10,000)."

Projecting 12.5 million accounts by 2012, HSAs are growing as employers and individuals alike buy new policies.  For the low-income families with significant health needs this could have the potential to leave many in great financial debt.  Increased out-of-pocket liability could mean increased poor financial conditions throughout the United States.   

 Learn more about Kaiser's study

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 the National Patient Advocate Foundation endorsed SHOP, Small Business Health Options Program, a new Senate legislation.  According to NPAF CEO and President Nancy Davenport-Ennis, "The SHOP proposal is a significant step forward for patients-but it falls short in protecting those with serious, life-threatening and/or disabling disease who are often excluded from health coverage because of pre-existing conditions."  NPAF is currently taking action on this issue alongside leaders in Congress in an effort to expand the bill's health coverage.

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