PHI 101: How Do People Get Their Health Insurance
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67% of under 65 have private health insurance
- 62% have employer-sponsored coverage
- 5% purchase individual policies
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15% have Medicaid or other governmental coverage
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18% of Americans are uninsured
At age 65 or if you have a disability, you generally qualify for Medicare, a federal public insurance plan. People with Medicare can choose a public fee-for-service health insurance plan that allows them to see doctors and use hospitals anywhere in America and allows them to budget for their care.
But, the vast majority of people under 65 do not have the choice of a public health insurance plan. They rely on private health insurance. More than 60% of people under 65 get private health insurance at work—as a benefit from their own job or as the spouse or dependent of a working family member.
About 15% are covered under public programs—mostly Medicaid, a state-run safety net program for certain low income people: children, parents of dependent children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities who cannot work.
About 5 percent of the non-elderly buy health insurance on their own, in what’s called the “individual insurance market.”
About 18% of the US population or almost 47 million non-elderly Americans—are uninsured.
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LATEST SCORECARD
Fifty-eight percent of primary care doctors in the U.S. report their patients often have difficulty paying for medications and care, and half of U.S. doctors spend substantial time dealing with restrictions insurance companies place on their patients’ care, according to the 2009 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey.
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Families saw their premiums for job-based health insurance rise to an average of $13,375 annually in 2009, with workers paying an average share of $3,515 and employers paying $9,860.
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