Women Struggle With Rising Health Care Costs : ScoutNews

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:32:14 +0000

Even before the slowdown in the economy began, women were more likely than men to have trouble meeting rising health-care costs to get the care they need.So finds a report released Monday by the nonprofit research foundation The Commonwealth Fund.More than half of women surveyed said they had problems getting care because of cost issues, including skipping a needed medical test, prescription medication or other treatment. EasyToInsureME Health Insurance Quotes”What it shows is that getting and paying for health care is an even bigger problem for women than for men,” said report co-author Michelle Doty, director of survey research for the organization.The study is based on data from The Commonwealth Fund’s 2007 Biennial Health Insurance Survey, which polled more than 3,500 adults aged 19 and older in the United States. The latest findings focus on 2,616 adults, aged 19 to 64.The survey found that seven out of every 10 working-age American women (64 million women) either had no health insurance, insufficient health care coverage, trouble paying medical bills or a lack of access to needed health care due to cost.Overall, 52 percent of working-age women surveyed said they had problems accessing needed health care due to costs, compared to 39 percent of men. For example, prohibitive costs meant that women often did not fill a prescription, did not see a specialist when recommended, skipped a test or treatment or follow-up visit that was recommended, or did not see a doctor or other health-care professional even though they had a medical problem.Medical bills tend to plague women longer than they do men, as well. “Women are more likely than men to be paying off health care bills over time,” Doty said. “Forty-five percent of women had problems with medical bills, compared to 36 percent of men.”"Most surprising is, all these problems are so pervasive across all income levels,” Doty said. For instance, she said, 34 percent of women with a family income of $60,000 or more did not get the care they needed.Women also reported that they are less likely than men to get employer-provided health-care coverage, Doty said, sometimes because they work part time.Health-care costs impact women to a greater degree than men, in general, the study authors said, because women have lower average incomes and higher out-of-pocket health costs than men. They also use the health-care system more often.Other experts in women’s health care said the report rings true with their own research.”The findings in the issue brief underscore the persistent problems with adequate access and coverage to health-care services that women experience,” said Roberta Wyn, associate director of the University of California Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research.”The percent of women with inadequate health coverage, experiencing problems with medical bills or debt, and forgoing needed care is staggering and these data were collected in 2007, before the recession hit,” Wyn noted. She said the findings underscore the urgency to expand health-care coverage and access, a move that was seconded by the study authors.The findings “echo a long line of research showing that women face a great burden from medical bills due to both their greater health-care needs and higher out-of-pocket costs,” said Chloe Bird, senior sociologist at the Rand Corp. and author of Gender and Health: The Effects of Constrained Choice and Social Policies.The problem with access to health insurance for women has been worsening since 1980, Bird said, citing other research.The findings offer a clear message to younger women, Bird said: If you do manage to acquire health-care coverage, take advantage of it and “recognize the importance of investing in your health.”

Knowing What Exactly is Health Insurance

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:28:28 +0000

Many people right now are actually asking what health insurance is. The fact is that, health insurance is actually a concept that may differ depending on the place that you are. In this case, remember that there are countries that provide free medical care to their citizens, in which the government will actually hold responsibility for paying your bills, for they will reimburse the doctors. Such countries actually include the Untied Kingdom, the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden), France, and even Canada. Sadly, this is not true for the United States.This is then reason why this kind of insurance is important for you to know, as long as you live in the US. Remember that in this country, health care is not provided free by the government. In this case, whenever you want to have security when you need to pay for your medical bills, the best thing that you can have is affordable health insurance. Just like many other insurance, health insurance is only helpful whenever you actually need it. Obviously, you cannot be able to take advantage of its benefits, unless you are actually sick.In this case, you may never be sure. Remember that there is not a single person who is immune to diseases. In fact, all people will surely experience a disease or an illness, the only question is when and how bad. This is where getting insurance concerning health care comes into importance. Take a look then at the different kinds of health insurance in the US:1. Self insured or uninsured This kind of health-related insurance refers to two types of individuals. First, this type actually refers to individuals who have no health-related insurance at all. The second type of individuals is the one who has insurance, and is solely responsible for paying his/her premiums. Facts show us that 30% of the American population actually falls into self-insured or uninsured category.2. Managed care plans This is the kind of health plan that actually provides contracted service, which is in turn offered by specified providers. In addition, there are also contracted prices for such insurance.3. Indemnity plans This is the most expensive kind of health-related insurance. However, it is also the one that offers the best protection for you. This is because of the fact that indemnity plans enable you to get the needed medical treatment whenever you may be and wherever you choose.For help in selecting the right type of health insurance for you and your family, visit Insurancecaredirect. Here you can also get details on low cost health insurance which might interest you.

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Women Struggle With Rising Health Care Costs : ScoutNews

Knowing What Exactly is Health Insurance