Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
July 22, 2009 at 08:00 PM
Think tank researchers who question the quality of many individual health insurance policies have reported survey data hinting that individual health policies may pay claims more promptly.
A team led by Michelle Doty published the data, based on a 2007 health insurance survey conducted by Commonwealth Fund, New York, in a paper released by the Commonwealth Fund.
The survey participants included in the Doty paper were ages 18 to 64 and had private health coverage throughout the year.
The researchers assert in the paper that buying individual health insurance is not a viable option for most U.S. families, and they note that individual health coverage holders face higher premium costs and higher out-of-pocket health care costs.
About 36% of the survey participants with individual health coverage said they had faced expensive medical bills not covered by insurance, compared with 27% of the participants with group coverage.
The percentage of participants who faced “balance billing” – the need to make up the difference between what a doctor wants to charge for care and what an insurer wants to pay — was 39% for the participants with individual coverage and only 28% for group plan participants.
