The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) is a federation of 38 separate health insurance organizations and companies in the United States. Combined, they directly or indirectly provide health insurance to over 100 million Americans.[92] BCBSA insurance companies are franchisees, independent of the association (and traditionally each other), offering insurance plans within defined regions under one or both of the association's brands. Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers offer some form of health insurance coverage in every U.S. state, and also act as administrators of Medicare in many states or regions of the United States, and provide coverage to state government employees as well as to federal government employees under a nationwide option of the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan.[93]
The resulting programme is profession-based: all people working are required to pay a portion of their income to a not-for-profit health insurance fund, which mutualises the risk of illness, and which reimburses medical expenses at varying rates. Children and spouses of insured people are eligible for benefits, as well. Each fund is free to manage its own budget, and used to reimburse medical expenses at the rate it saw fit, however following a number of reforms in recent years, the majority of funds provide the same level of reimbursement and benefits.
Another distinction between plans that can change the rates you pay, is the type of network the plan uses. Depending on whether the plan is a PPO, HMO, EPO or POS plan, consumers will have access to the health care providers managed in different ways. HMOs tend to be the most restrictive about which doctors you can see and what you must do to see them. This usually means that the insurers save on your cost of care and thereby provide lower premiums.
The university recognizes the following days as holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. When a recognized holiday is on Saturday, it is observed on the preceding Friday. When a recognized holiday is on Sunday, it is observed on the following Monday.
Still, private insurance remained unaffordable or simply unavailable to many, including the poor, the unemployed, and the elderly. Before 1965, only half of seniors had health care coverage, and they paid three times as much as younger adults, while having lower incomes.[28] Consequently, interest persisted in creating public health insurance for those left out of the private marketplace.
The quality of medical care available in the United States is generally of a high standard. In the United States, health care is provided by private hospitals and clinics. This requires citizens to have private medical insurance. Often, an employer provides insurance that covers the employee and their immediate family. Increasingly, due to rising costs, employees are required to help cover the cost of medical insurance.
Dental insurance helps pay for the cost of necessary dental care. Few medical expense plans include coverage for dental expenses. About 97% of dental benefits in the United States is provided through separate policies from carriers—both stand-alone and medical affiliates—that specialize in this coverage. Typically, these dental plans offer comprehensive preventive benefits. However, major dental expenses, such as crowns and root canals, are just partially covered. Also, most carriers offer a lower rate if you select a plan that utilizes their Network providers. Discount dental programs are also available. These do not constitute insurance, but provide participants with access to discounted fees for dental work.
Approximately 19 percent of Americans had coverage under Medicaid in 2016, and 14 percent had coverage under Medicare. These are government-run programs, as opposed to private coverage. However, the state and federal governments contract with private insurers to offer Medicaid managed care plans and Medicare Advantage plans, all of which are run by private insurers (in many cases, the same private insurers that offer employer-sponsored and individual market plans to the rest of the population).
{"id":6,"isAgeFieldVisible":true,"isInsuranceTypeFieldVisible":true,"isInsuredStatusFieldVisible":true,"customEventLabel":"","defaultZip":"","defaultProduct":"health","quoteWizardEndpoint":"https:\/\/quotes.valuepenguin.com","trackingKey":"_average-cost-of-health-insurance","title":"Find the Cheapest Health Insurance Quotes in Your Area","vendor":"vp"}
Public insurance cover increased from 2000–2010 in part because of an aging population and an economic downturn in the latter part of the decade. Funding for Medicaid and CHIP expanded significantly under the 2010 health reform bill.[9] The proportion of individuals covered by Medicaid increased from 10.5% in 2000 to 14.5% in 2010 and 20% in 2015. The proportion covered by Medicare increased from 13.5% in 2000 to 15.9% in 2010, then decreased to 14% in 2015.[3][10]
