Healthcare in America

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Different types of healthcare options in America

Introduction

Medicare and Medicaid programs were enacted in America 's constitution around 44years ago with an aim of setting aside a fund that would provide medical care for all American citizens . However , even with the presence of government programs , the public healthcare system is in a terrible state (Anne O James A . 564

In 2004 for instance , 45 millions of Americans were uninsured and turned to hospital emergency rooms for even routine care ' numbers of

br uninsured , it is projected that Medicare program will run out of funds if no suitable remedial action is taken . The reason why a lot of Americans are not insured is because they can nit afford the exorbitant medical care is attributed to the highly fragmented medical care system every medical care provider attempt to get the biggest cut of health care dollar they can ' The industry reports that it is forced to charge high medical bills because they need to finance research and development (Anne O James A . 564

As a result of the unaffordable charges , the number of people who have put off medical care is increasing leading to serious health conditions There are different types of insurance for health care option and are categorized into

Employed based health insurance coverage

Under this we have

Small employer group

This insurance option applies to employers who have 2-50 employees . The federal health insurance portability and accountability Act of1996 requires that health insurance contracts for small health groups be on guarantee issue basis and also guarantee renewable unless the employer has failed to pay premiums , committed fraud , intentionally misrepresented or has failed to comply with the terms of the health insurance contract (Harry A . S 222

This particular scheme is advantageous especially to smaller companies Some small health group insurance programs provide additional benefits like free dental care . There is a large network of medical care providers who participate in these programs . There is benefit of economies of scale , making the charges per person lower than individual programs . The contributions of employers and in some cases the workers are not taxed (Harry A . S 240

However , this scheme is not flexible whereby some organizations allows medical care from specified physicians . The employees in such cases are denied the opportunity of getting medical care from their favorite physicians or the physician of their choice (Harry A . S 254

Large employer group

This program is applicable for employers who have from 51 or more employees . The average charges are lower than both small groups and individual health insurance opting due to economics of scale . The contributions of both employers and employees in most cases are not taxable . Many employers allow their employees to temporary continue their health insurance under specified conditions for a specified period of time (Ben Irvine

Individuals who have other insurance coverage or have not exhausted COBRA coverage are not provided with this benefit . This option also precludes individuals who did not previously...