FYI: This is a direct quote from a release from the Kaiser Family
Foundation. I do not have any affiliation with KFF, but thought some of you
might benefit from visiting the site and getting on their mailing list.
Once upon a time I did do research on health insurance and the uninsured and
the impact on access to health care as well as it's impact on health status
(and some of that research was funded by KFF).
"Finding comprehensive health coverage in the individual insurance market
can be time-consuming, expensive, and challenging for consumers with even
the most common health conditions according to a new report by the Kaiser
Family Foundation. The study, conducted for Kaiser by researchers at
Georgetown Universityıs Institute for Health Care Research and Policy, was
designed to test the accessibility and affordability of the individual
insurance market by creating hypothetical applicants and asking real
insurers to consider them as actual consumers. The results show that
consumers with various health conditions can often get coverage of some
kind, but that coverage often comes with limits on benefits and may be
priced out of their reach.
The report, How Accessible is Individual Health Insurance for Consumers in
Less-Than-Perfect Health?, available online at
<http://www.kff.org/marketplace> , shows extremely wide variations in
benefits and premiums offered that are highly dependent on the age,
residence, and health status of the applicant, as well as on the particular
insurer. The report follows seven hypothetical consumers through the
application process with 19 insurance companies and HMOs in eight markets
around the country: Arlington Heights, Illinois; Austin, Texas; Corning,
Iowa; Fresno, California; Miami, Florida; Tucson, Arizona; Richmond,
Virginia; and Winamac, Indiana. Insurance carriers were asked to determine
whether each applicant would be offered coverage and under what terms.
An executive summary of the report (document #3136) is also available
online. Print copies of both the full report and the executive summary are
available by contacting the Foundationıs publications request line at (800)
656-4533. "
--
--Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC [log in to unmask]
INFANT CUISINE AND MOTHER CARE: Lactation Consulting, Perinatal Health
Education and Attachment Parenting Classes for parents and practitioners
***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
