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Insurance Discrimination on the Basis of Health Status: An Overview of Discrimination Practices, Federal Law, and Federal Reform Options

Executive Summary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Sara Rosenbaum
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Extract

This is an important time to focus on the question of insurance discrimination based on health status. The nation once again is poised to embark on a major health care reform debate. Even as the number of uninsured stands at some 45 million persons, millions more may be poised to lose coverage during the worst economic downturn in generations. In addition, a large number of persons may be seriously under-insured, with coverage falling significantly below the cost of necessary health care. In recent years, the proportion of insured persons who are underinsured has grown by 60% since 2003, reaching an estimated 25 million persons in 2007. Health care costs experienced by insured persons now account for more than 75% of all personal bankruptcies related to medical care. Underlying these figures is a national approach to health care financing for the non-elderly that effectively increases the odds that those who are in poor health status will be uninsured or underinsured.

Type
JLME Supplement
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 37 , Issue S2 , Fall 2009 , pp. 101 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2009

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