How Much Health Insurance Is Enough? Revisiting the Concept of Underinsurance
November 2006
in “
Medical Care Research and Review
”
TLDR The document concludes that there is no clear definition of adequate health insurance, and a consistent method to measure underinsurance is needed.
The 2006 document examines the issue of underinsurance in the United States, where there is no consensus on what constitutes adequate health insurance coverage. It reviews literature and studies that measure underinsurance through economic, structural, and attitudinal dimensions, with findings showing a wide range of underinsured individuals, from 4% to 53%, depending on the criteria used. The document highlights the challenges in defining and measuring underinsurance due to varying benchmarks and standards, and the impact of out-of-pocket expenses and the comprehensiveness of coverage on these estimates. It emphasizes the need for a national effort to develop consistent approaches to monitor changes in health insurance coverage and to define and measure underinsurance. The authors recommend a multi-dimensional approach to measuring underinsurance, routine data collection on out-of-pocket costs, refinement of surveys on health benefits, and consideration of income in assessing coverage adequacy. They call for better mechanisms to measure and disseminate information on health care coverage adequacy and for a national monitoring system to inform policy debates.
