More People Going Without Auto Insurance

In today's economic environment, more and more people are choosing to go without auto insurance while they still take to the roads. Industry experts estimate that about 13.8% of all American drivers are uninsured and this causes a whole host of problems for all drivers and insurance companies. Auto insurance companies lose a significant amount of money every year due to uninsured drivers and these costs are passed on to insurance premiums that insured drivers will feel. Whether you have new or used car insurance, you will likely see rate increases over time partly due to uninsured drivers.

Larry Copeland wrote the article "One in Seven Drivers Have No Insurance" on USA Today and points out that uninsured drivers end up costing insured drivers billions of dollars per year. This astonishing figure is creeping up as inflation rises and health care costs continue to increase. Data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners reports that in 2007 the cost of people going without insurance was about $10.8 billion.

Requiring auto insurance hasn't been enough motivation to get all drivers insured. The consequences aren't quite severe enough in most cases and there are not systematic checks in place to ensure a driver is insured at all times. Generally, someone would get caught after being in an accident or getting pulled over, but if they aren't caught in this situation no one may ever find out they are uninsured. Some states have in place random auditing, but this is expensive and still isn't deterring people from getting insured in a timely manner.

Healthy Indiana Plan Affected By Health Care Reform

Many health insurance providers and special state programs will be affected by health care reform in some way. This includes two well known plans, Healthy Indiana Plan and Washington Basic. This does not need to be a cause for concern though. Health care reform is designed to help as many Americans as possible have affordable health insurance.

There are some important timelines that Americans should be aware of in regards to when health care reform will take place. Within one year the new bill will be offering a $250 rebate for Medicare prescription drug plans for those whose benefits have run out. 90 days after the bill goes into effect there will be immediate access to high risk pools for those previously declined for pre-existing conditions. After 6 months of enactment, insurance companies will not be allowed deny coverage for those who get sick and they cannot deny children with any pre-existing conditions. This is a huge change that many will benefit from.

By the year 2014 most employers will have to offer health insurance to their employees. People who do not carry health insurance will face certain penalties. And by 2018, a 40% tax will be placed on high end health insurance policies. It won't be until 2019 that health insurance is extended to the promised 32 million people.

Lost Your Health Insurance? Tips to Deal With It

The Columbus Dispatch has some tips for people who have been laid off and are currently uninsured. These suggestions can save you money on your health care:

• If your health insurance hasn't yet ran out, get any necessary tests done before it does.
• Ask your doctor to prescribe drugs with a generic equavilent, and request them from your pharmacist. Some stores sell some generics for just $4!
• Buy a prescription drug card that gives you discounts on medications.
• Get coverage through a high-deductible health insurance plan, which will protect you in a catastrophe with lower premiums than typical health insurance.
• Find out if the pharmaceutical company/ies that makes your medication(s) has a free drug program, such as PPaRX, for lower income individuals.
• Negotiate with your doctors for lower rates and/or an affordable payment plan for services. Many doctors are surprisingly open to that.
• See if your doctors can give you some free samples of prescription medication, given to them by the drug companies.

Remember to check out health insurance rates in order to become reinsured as soon as possible. Some plans could be more affordable than you think.

16% Of Drivers Will Be Uninsured in 2009, Predicts Insurance Research Council

In Newsday, Tom Incantalupo reported that the Insurance Research Council, and industry group, is predicting an increase in uninsured drivers for 2010. Their projection is that 16.1% of all drivers in the United States will be driving around without auto insurance, an increase from 13.8% in 2007.

The IRC blames this state of events on the economy, because consumers are trying to cut back on expenses. With the unemployment rate rising at a similar clip, it’s somewhat understandable that keeping up with your auto insurance premiums may fall to the wayside. Still, it’s a bad idea to let your policy lapse. For one, when you eventually buy insurance again, your premiums could see a sharp increase. Not only do uninsured drivers risk fines and other legal punishment in most states; they also cause the rates of insured drivers to go up when they’re involved in a crash, Tom says.

Healthy Indiana Plan Nearing Capacity for Childless Adults

One year after the state launched a state-subsidized health care program for the uninsured, many people are in danger of losing access to Indiana health insurance due to an enrollment cap. 

Shari Rudaskvy from the Indianapolis Star says that the Healthy Indiana plan is close to reaching the cap of 34,000 on adults without children that are allowed to enroll. Currently, about half all 42,000 enrollees fall in that category.

Higher unemployment rates will probably lead to even more people applying for the plan, causing it to reach capacity even sooner. Those adults who have access to health insurance from their job (even if it's prohibitively expensive) or who need access to vision or dental care (HIP doesn't cover either) might find that it makes more sense to get health insurance quotes for another plan that could help them. The same goes for people who are underinsured.

Uninsured % Lowest in New England States

The New England states have the highest rate of health insurance coverage in the United States, while the Southwestern part of the country has the lowest rate of coverage, according to a recent study.

Only 11% of adults and 4% of children in New England are uninsured, compared with 30% of adults and 18% of children in the Southwest.

Nationally, about 17 % of Americans under age 65 were uninsured when the survey of 106,000 families was conducted from 2004- 2006.

North Carolina Health Insurance

A new report by Families USA, says 3 North Carolinians die each day because they don't have health insurance.

The Families USA report for Health Insurance in North Carolina makes three specific points about uninsured adults:

* Nearly three working-age North Carolinians die each day due to lack of health insurance

* Between 2000 and 2006, the estimated number of adult age North Carolina residents who died because they did not have health insurance was nearly 5,600.

* Across the country (in 2006) twice as many people died from a lack of health insurance covergae as died from homicide.

In its 2002 report, the Institute of Medicine estimated that 18,000 adults nationwide died in 2000 because they did not have health insurance. That estimate was later updated by the Urban Institute, which reported that at least 22,000 adults died in 2006 due to a lack of health insurance.

Health Insurance

Families USA recently released a report from all 50 states on the number of uninsured and the estimated number of deaths directly related to lack of health insurance.

The report found that uninsured adults are 25% more likely to die prematurely than adults with health insurance coverage.

Another study found that lack of health insurance is the third leading cause of death, following heart disease and cancer, for uninsured adults between the ages of 55 and 64.

While the percentage of uninsured, working age (25-64) people in the South reported by Families USA in 2006 (20.5%) is similar to overall U.S. percentage of uninsured in the same age group (19.9%), several Southern states have a significantly higher percentage of uninsured.

For example, the Families USA report found that Louisiana had the highest rate of uninsured among working people at 26.2%. Florida (25.3%), Arkansas (23.2%), and Mississippi (22.1%) also exceeded the regional and national rates. Virginia (15.1%) and West Virginia (16.5%) are well below the regional and national rates.

Other state reports from around the South on the percentage of uninsured working age people include Alabama (20.1%), Georgia (19.7%), Kentucky (19.0%), North Carolina (21.1%), South Carolina (19.7%), and Tennessee (18.3%).

The U.S. Census report shows that the South has the highest percentage of uninsured overall, 19.0%, as compared to 11.4% in the Midwest, 12.3% in the Northeast, and 17.9% in the West.

The Uninsured

About 90 million Americans (not including the elderly) were at some point uninsured during 2006-2007, as detailed in a FamiliesUSA report.

The majority of the uninsured did not have health insurance coverage for extensive periods. Almost two-thirds of them were without health insurance coverage for over six months, while about half were without insurance for at least nine months.

Percentage of non-elderly uninsured:

-- Texas - 45.7%
-- New Mexico -44.3%
-- Arizona - 41.8%
-- California - 40.5%
-- Florida - 40.1%
-- Mississippi - 38.7%
-- Nevada - 38.4%
-- Louisiana - 38.1%
-- Oklahoma - 37.7%
-- Georgia - 37.6%
-- South Carolina - 37.4%
-- Arkansas - 37.2%
-- Utah - 35.2%
-- Alabama - 35.1%
-- The District of Columbia - 35.1%
-- West Virginia - 35.1%
-- Alaska - 34.8%
-- North Carolina - 34.6%
-- Oregon - 34.6%
-- Colorado - 34.2%
-- Montana - 33.9%

According to the report, 79.3% of the uninsured were in working families, 70.6% were in full-time employment, while 8.7% worked part-time. 64.2 million uninsured people were within the 18-64 year-old age group, 34.9% were aged 25-44.

States with people uninsured for some/all of 2006-2007:

California - 13 mil
Texas - 9.3 mil
Florida - 6 mil
New York - 5.5 mil
Illinois - 3.6 mil
Georgia - 3.1 mil
Ohio - 2.9 mil
Pennsylvania - 2.9 mil
North Carolina - 2.6 mil
Michigan - 2.5 mil
New Jersey - 2.4 mil

Employer Sponsored Health Insurance Drops

Job-based health insurance continues to drop despite a strong economy.

The State of Health Insurance in California: Findings from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey found that the reduction in employer-offered insurance coverage from 2001 to 2005 affected 678,000 Californians. The report also found in 2005:

• 80 percent of uninsured, employed Californians don't have access to affordable health insurance through their employer
  
• 55 percent of uninsured, employed Californians worked for employers not offering health insurance;
• 20 percent of uninsured, employed Californians were not eligible for their employers' health benefits;
• 84 percent of uninsured Californians are people with jobs and their families;
• 4.2 million uninsured Californians are full-time employees and their families.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was at UCLA when the report was released, calling for healthcare reform.

The Senate Health Committee on Wednesday held a hearing on Assembly Bill 8, bipartisan healthcare reform.

Heath Insurers use the web

Robert Nilson (25) could be considered a "young invincible," a term used in the insurance industry to describe healthy young people who find health insurance unnecessary.

Nielsen recently took it upon himself to find a health plan after being uninsured for more than a year. And when the time came, he turned to a place that many people would not think to go: the Internet.

The company he stumbled upon, eHealthinsurance, is the largest online provider of health insurance for individuals, families and small businesses. On its Web site, the company offers 125 different plans in Utah, and each has been approved by the state's Department of Insurance.

While there are certainly people who just don't think they need health insurance, more and more people are seeking some kind of safety net to protect them against high medical bills if an emergency strikes.

Individual health insurance offers people the chance to tailor a plan to meet their needs, such as a high-deductible policy with a low monthly premium for someone with fewer medical needs or a slightly richer plan for those who frequently go to the doctor.

Affordable Health Insurance in Illinois

The Senate Public Health and Human Services Committee heard testimony from top healthcare officials from Illinois on the urgent need for Governor Rod R. Blagojevich's historic "Illinois Covered" plan to give every resident access to affordable Illinois health insurance.

The health plan will provide affordable coverage to the 1.4 milion uninsured adults in Illinois and will also help many middle-income families and small businesses that are currently enrolled in health insurance plans save thousands of dollars a year on healthcare costs.

The cost of health insurance coverage is rising dramatically nationwide, leaving more and more people uninsured, and forcing businesses to drop or significantly cut back health coverage. As a result of faster-than-inflation rate increases, the number of uninsured nationally has increased by 6 million since 2000. The cost of providing health services to uninsured people puts significant pressure on families, the healthcare system and the nation's economy:

• Lack of health insurance coverage is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.

• Medical-related bankruptcies have jumped 2,200% since 1981.

• A FamiliesUSA study found that the health insurance premiums for families in Illinois increased by $1059 due to costs incurred by the uninsured.

• The HR Policy Association estimates the annual cost of reduced productivity due to uninsured workers in the nation's top 200 largest companies is between $87 billion and $126 billion.

Under Gov. Blagojevich, Illinois has expanded access to healthcare to over 560,000 more people, and became the first state in the nation to provide access to comprehensive health insurance to every uninsured child in the state through "All Kids." As a result, the Kaiser Family Foundation ranked Illinois #1 in the nation for adding working parents to healthcare for 3 years in a row, and credited Illinois for sparking a national movement to provide healthcare to all children.