Currently, around 47 million Americans are uninsured. Although this status is not limited to one social class, age group or ethnicity, majority of this population exhibit some common individual and demographic characteristics. First, of the number of citizens without insurance, 80% come from working and low-income families (Galambos, 2005). These are headed by parents who work but are barely able to sustain themselves and their children because of insufficient wages.
Most hold full-time employment while a significant number are part-time workers. Their jobs are usually those that do not provide for health care coverage, whether public or commercial, because the worsening economic situation forced employers to exclude this from the benefits they provide or pass the burden of premium payment to the workers themselves (Galambos, 2005). The workers in turn do not have the means to finance their own health insurance. Losing one’s job or shifting jobs also provide risks to losing one’s health insurance.
Second, almost 50% of the uninsured population in the country belongs to the 18 to 24 year old age group followed by those aged 25 to 44. Individuals of the 18-24 age group are prone to being uninsured because they are in the transition period of losing their insured status from a parent’s policy because they no longer qualify as dependents but can possibly acquire insurance if they are employed (Galambos, 2005). Third, the uninsured population displays a higher rate of morbidity and mortality than the insured.
They have poorer clinical outcomes for both physical and mental health chronic conditions because preventative health services and diagnostics are inaccessible to them (Galambos, 2005). Worse health conditions and even early death are the results of insufficient health care, physical examinations, treatments, medications, health education and follow-up health services.
List of References
Galambos, C. (2005). “The Uninsured: A Forgotten Population”. Health and Social Work, 30. Retrieved 27 April 2008 from http://www. questia. com/read/500923649