The number of adults whose health insurance was inadequate rose 80 % from 2003 to 2010 accordingly to a report by the Commonwealth Fund published in the journal of Health Affairs, which leads us to the questions is affordable health insurance in Brentwood an utopia?
The Commonwealth Fund defines inadequate health insurance, if either criteria applies
* Out- of-pocket family medical care spending makes over 10 % of the families income ( not counted the premium payment)
* Medical expenses that represent over 5% of income (for families who income is below 200 % of the federal poverty level)
The researcher found that :
* 81 million adults were either underinsured or uninsured in 2010, this is 44 % of the country’s adult population. In 2003 the number was 61 million.
* 77 % of adults whose incomes were below 133% of the poverty level were either underinsured or uninsured . Even adults with an income between 133% and 250 % of the poverty level showed 58 percent of being underinsured.
Adults who are under insured are twice as likely to forgo medical care, and three times as likely if they are uninsured, compared to those with adequate medical coverage. With the partial implementation of the Affordable Act , such as free preventive care , hopefully the number of adults getting medical care will improve.
But the recent economic forecast, especially the negative job market situation will put a new strain of the availability of affordable health insurance in Brentwood and the rest of the country.