Posted: 12/07/09
For the past 70 years, employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) has been the predominant form of private healthcare coverage. While ESI still covers slightly over half - 54 percent - of the American population, its role continues to decline due to skyrocketing healthcare costs and challenging economic times. In fact, employer-sponsored insurance has declined every year since 2000, leaving over 45 million people under 65 uninsured. If this trend continues, research estimates that one in six Americans with employer health coverage today will lose their insurance over the next two years. Loss of health insurance - even temporarily - can have devastating financial and health consequences. Between the downward spiral in ESI and increasing unemployment, gaps in health insurance coverage are increasingly common and they do not discriminate. Thirty-two percent of working age adults and their families had a gap in health insurance coverage for at least one month in 2006 and 2007.
Individual health insurance costly and often inadequate
Unfortunately for those who find themselves suddenly without health insurance, the majority of individual healthcare options are very expensive or do not provide adequate coverage. As a result, those who lose their employer-sponsored health benefits are more likely to remain uninsured than to purchase individual health insurance. Among all individuals who lost ESI, 85 percent were uninsured for at least one month, while only 13 percent gained individual market coverage for at least one month.
Supplemental benefits provide an alternative
Discount health insurance is an affordable solution to this growing crisis. Discount health insurance companies do not provide health insurance; they offer supplemental benefit plans that provide discounts on healthcare services. Supplemental benefits can help plug gaps in coverage for the uninsured and under-insured through medical coverage, dental coverage, vision coverage, prescription drug coverage and other coverage types, providing access to necessary medical services while also saving money.
Unlike traditional insurance plans, supplemental benefit plans contain little to no exclusions and there is no waiting period. Members can take advantage of the supplemental benefits immediately. Let's take a closer look at three specific supplemental benefits: dental coverage, vision coverage and prescription coverage.
Dental coverage essential for good health
A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Oral Health America found that the majority of adults (92 percent) understand that a lack of proper dental care can lead to overall poor health and that four in five adults agree that dental coverage is as important as general medical benefits in a benefits package. But as we've learned, an increasing number of people do not have access to traditional insurance plans and those who do have health insurance often find their plan provides little or no dental coverage.
Discount dental plans can help ensure individuals and their families receive the dental coverage they need at a fee they can afford. Participating dental providers agree to accept a discounted fee from plan members as payment-in-full for services performed. Plan members simply present their membership card when visiting a participating dental provider to receive their dental savings. In addition to significant dental savings, plan members often have greater control over their dental care.
Healthy eyes require complete vision coverage
Regular eye care is as important as an annual physical; proper preventative care is essential to ensure the health of your vision as you age. Comprehensive eye exams provide a window to your overall health and can detect serious illnesses like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease before other symptoms appear. While traditional health insurance may provide vision coverage, it often only covers the basics, not glasses, contacts or more extensive visions services.
Discount health plans provide the option to purchase comprehensive vision coverage that helps members and their families save on regular eye exams and other vision services. Unlike traditional insurance plans, discount vision plans offer members significant eyewear savings and often cover cataract and Lasik surgeries.
Rising prescription costs increase need for better prescription coverage
As prescription drug costs escalate so does the number of Americans who cannot afford medication necessary to manage life-threatening conditions. Despite the availability of low-cost generics and dramatic discounts offered by large chains, national surveys consistently find that as many as one third of respondents are not filling prescriptions because of the increasing costs. Again, discount health plans offer prescription drug coverage that help the insured and under-insured afford the medicine they need. In addition to providing prescription drug savings, the prescription drug coverage offered through a discount health plan can help members pay for medication their insurance does not cover.
Entrepreneur, Declining employer sponsored health insurance: Tennessee and the U.S., Rose M. Rubin, Fall 2006, http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/pub/4492.html
Report Projects Steep Loss of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Ahead, October 27, 2009, http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/10587
Rhoades JA, Cohen SB. The Long-Term Uninsured in America, 2004-2007: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population under Age 65. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Statistical Brief #258. August 2009.
Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2006, 2007. Analysis provided by Agency for Health Care Research and Quality.
New survey: Americans support dental coverage in care reform, June 05, 2009 | Industry News Release, Source: Healthcare Finance News
