Health Insurance Role

Financial barriers to access health care are common in a low-income family when they are uninsured or underinsured. Many uninsured and undocumented immigrant received federal and state health care coverage. Latinos and African American are the ethnicities that are disproportionally get affected. Limited access to a doctor when they are sick, taking non-prescribed medication and holding off recommended treatment is only some of the problems they encountered (Carrillo et al., 2011).

(2010) health care coverage is strongly related to better health outcomes for children when it becomes affordable and help people use care appropriately. Health care coverage helps consumer gain continuity of care, preventive and screening services, mental health care, prescription drugs, and other services. Vulnerable populations are at a higher risk of declined health outcomes when they are without any type of health care coverage. Being insured can also enhance economic and social well-being through decreasing use of hospital services, preventing developmental problems in children, decreasing costs of public programs and services and increasing workforce productivity.

Many Americans have access to health care that enable them to receive the care they need. Other faces a variety of barriers that make it difficult to receive health care services. According to the National Healthcare Disparities Reports, racial and ethnic groups are disproportionately represented among the uninsured and lower socioeconomic status. The report showed that health insurance is a contributing factor for poor health for some of the core measures and little improvement (AHRQ, 2014).

Vulnerable populations is a term that creates an image of distinct and narrow-minded minority though the vulnerability of every individual to illness, disease, and injury has made health insurance necessary and probable for a huge portion of the American population. Vulnerable populations in the United States includes parents and children of immigrants, race/ethnic minorities, the disabled poor, the elderly, foster children, families ineligible for welfare, prison inmates and former offenders, children with special care needs, and residents of rural areas. However, the uninsured population has developed to become one of the vulnerable populations in the United States because of the risks and dangers associated with the lack of health insurance. As a result of the increased of the number of the uninsured, they have a huge financial impact on the vulnerable population.

Medicaid has become an essential program for many, proving comprehensive inpatient and outpatient health care coverage, including many services and expenses Medicaid does not cover, especially, prescription drugs, diagnostic and preventive care, and eyeglasses. Medicaid can also help supplement Medicaid deductibles and premiums and pay a 20% portion of uncovered charges in some cases (Hansen, 2012). The program supports the country's most vulnerable and frail including children, those requiring long-term care services for chronic mental illness and retardation and those needing AIDs therapy (Goodman, 1991). These are enormous societal needs that may not be met without the assistance of Medicaid.

As health care reform in the United States makes drastic changes in insurance policies under the Affordable Care Act, San Francisco developed Healthy San Francisco in 2007, a safety net program aimed to help transition the low income and uninsured Americans as they qualify for various health insurance programs (Katz & Brigham, 2011). Healthy San Francisco is a program only for the uninsured adult citizens within the county limits. Under the program, individuals and families can choose primary care homes and defined specialty care networks, with transparent pricing based on income level (Katz & Brigham, 2011). Children under the age of 18 do not qualify for Healthy San Francisco as they would otherwise qualify for another county run program for children who do not qualify for state or federal health insurance (Katz & Brigham, 2011). As part of the program, a health information program would analyze applicants

As of 2008, there are approximately 73.9 million children living in the United States. Of these children more that 5.5 million have some form of mental or physical disability. In addition, 77 percent of uninsured children come from low-income families (CoverTheUninsured.org, 2008). However, Missouri’s population of uninsured children fares much better at almost half the national average or 7.2 percent (Missouri Foundation for Health, 2004). More than 8 million children in America are uninsured. That means 1 out of every 10 does not have any form of health coverage. Racial and ethnic disparities among those uninsured children are dramatic. Most recent data has found that one in 13 White children is uninsured compared to: one in five American Indian children, one in six Latino children, one in nine African American children, one in nine Asian/Pacific Islander children. (Children’s Defense Fund, 2010)

It is not just the poverty-stricken population that can’t afford insurance. The cost of U.S. health care and insurance is out of reach even for those who do not live in what we technically classify as “poverty”. By the 2003 Federal Poverty Guidelines, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, poverty

Prior to 2014, NC’s uninsured and uninsurable populations were staggeringly high. Medicaid and the NC Healthy Choice (NCHC) safety net programs are state-run plans with their own unique coverage laws. NCHC is not considered an entitlement program so children could be placed on a wait list until additional funds were found for this program. This left many children without healthcare coverage. In 2009, NC’s Medicaid and NCHC program laws made it impossible

Working to keep children healthy is something that all governmental opponents can agree on. Medicaid and CHIP together provides health care coverage for low-income families. Both of these programs are jointly financed by the states and the federal government, but are largely administered by the states within extensive federal rules. Funding for this program is set to expire at the end of September of 2015. Although these programs differ in many ways, including financing, benefits and cost-sharing, it’s very beneficial to many children whose parents make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough for private health insurance.

About 11.2 million children representing 15 percent of all children in the United States have special health care needs, such as autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, depression, or anxiety (Data Research Center for Child and Adolescent Health, 2009/10). These children often require specialized services and therapies to live a healthy life, such as nursing care to live safely at home, specialized medical equipment, or regular therapy to address physical, behavioral, or developmental illnesses and conditions, which most private insurance plans don’t

Vulnerable populations are defined as “groups of people who are at a greater risk of developing health problems due to factors such as limited resources, poverty, socio-economic status, limited education, mental illnesses, prison time, age, gender, and homelessness” (Garcel 2015). There are three main financers of healthcare for vulnerable populations which include, the federal government, state governments, and private sources. Federal healthcare payment programs include Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP). These programs are managed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS). Each of these programs have their own set of eligibility requirements.

While many people assumed that all children have insurance it is possibility true but that is not the case for all children. When it comes to African American children only a little over a half of them are on Medicaid (Health Coverage n.d.). Due to the fact that some African American adults does not have only insurance changes have been made. There are some states that has changed and expanded children eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP (Health Coverage n.d.). Many people only know about Medicaid but there is another insurance program for children. The other program for kids are known as (CHIP) which stand for Children Health Insurance program. Making sure that children has insurance is very important because they need to be able to get the required services needed.

Children in the United States are also suffering because of the lack of universal health care coverage. While there is coverage for children living at or below the poverty level, there is no coverage available for those children whose parents make too much money to qualify for the low-income programs and too little money to be able to afford health insurance. “These gaps in health insurance coverage may lead to delayed or unmet health care needs among children” (Kim & Viner-Brown, 2007). As a result, these children are less likely to be taken to the doctor for treatment of chronic illnesses like “asthma” or “recurrent ear infections” (Hoffman & Paradise, 2008). It boggles the mind to know that “uninsured newborns, even though they had more severe

Coming from a low-income family I can personally agree that the research in this article is relevant to my life. Most of my family has health insurance, but with many limits. For example, the insurance that I have will only cover emergency occasions, but unfortunately it won’t cover all my bills or treatments like surgery. On the on the other hand, my younger sibling’s health insurance cover more factors but lacks in quality. However, my parents’ case is a lot different than ours because they don’t have health insurance at all or even qualify for a reduced health insurance. In fact, if my parents need urgent medical attention they don’t even have the privilege to be seen by a doctor without proof of medical insurance. I think it’s