Jeremiah O’Neill
TuesdayApr 14 at 9:55am
Professor and class,
In this week’s discussion I chose the topic of uninsured and under-insured. The uninsured and the under-insured adult could be anyone in your community. Having access to the appropriate resources for low cost health care is an important tool to know for your patients and their families. In the online article Key Facts about the Uninsured Population, the largest group of uninsured are adults that are in working families with lower to middle class incomes. Many of the statistics show that even though health insurance may be offered through an employer, the rates are too expensive and cause people to decline coverage. The risks for the under-insured are lack of preventative care, or care for chronic conditions, and health care debt that has the potential to cause financial disaster. (Jennifer Tolbert, 13) Even with the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion many adults remain uninsured with many healthcare needs. The under-insured are different than the uninsured in the way that coverage has been offered however the coverage is minimal, and personal costs are high. Many insurance companies offer “affordable” health care plans but the out of pocket expense is so high that people still struggle to with the personal cost to them. “Inadequate insurance coverage leaves people exposed to high health care costs, and these expenses can quickly turn into medical debt. More than half of uninsured adults and insured adults who have had a coverage gap reported that they had had problems paying medical bills or were paying off medical debt over time.” (Sara R. Collins, 2019) As community health nurses we can assist in policy making by participating in advocacy for our patients, analyzing problems in our community, and generating evidence to support policy change. (Carole R.MyersPhD, 2019)
References
Carole R. Myers PhD, R. (2019). Promoting Population Health: Nurse Advocacy, Policy Making, and Use of Media. Nursing Clinics of North America, 11-20.
Jennifer Tolbert, K. O. (13, December 2019). Key Facts about the Uninsured Population. Retrieved from Uninsured: https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/
Sara R. Collins, H. K. (2019, February). Health Insurance Coverage Eight Years After the ACA: Fewer Uninsured Americans and Shorter Coverage Gaps, But More Underinsured . Common Wealth Fund.