Good Insurance is Hard to Find

In the United States, most people still have their health insurance at work. But this is slowly changing, according to a new piece of research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) conducted.

In a growing trend, fewer people today than in past years have access to employer-based coverage.

During the 13 years between 1997 and 2010, the percentage of workers offered health benefits dropped from their employer by 2.6%, according to the EBRI study. That may not sound like much to add, however, that 66% of part-time employees of a company that coverage in 2010, which used not offered eligible because they are not enough working hours - that's up to 16% from 1997. Also had only offered shy of 30% of the people insurance at work, light them because they could not afford.

Coverage problems on your own

The EBRI study comes on the heels of other recently conducted by the Commonwealth Fund.

The Commonwealth study found that in 2011, one in four adults-about 48.2 million people - aged 19 to 64 spent part of 2011, the uninsured, nearly 70% of these people went without coverage for a year or more. A change or loss of job the most common reason for the lack of insurance was quoted as saying.

Not surprisingly, the study found that the individual insurance market, provided no comfort for people reporting their own disposal.

According to the report had 73%. Some kind of trouble buying health insurance for a number of reasons, including being away or charged more because of a pre-existing condition, or because the search for an affordable policy was a near impossibility And gaps in health insurance tended to cause gaps in health care. A lack of insurance reduces the likelihood that a regular doctor and increases the tendency for health screenings, such as cholesterol skip exams and mammograms revealed the study.

Help Finding Coverage

There is no doubt that finding affordable health insurance or insurance at all if you have a medical condition, it can extremely difficult, if not impossible. But there is also research, the fact that large numbers of people for different types of coverage are not aware of and support unnecessarily go uninsured.

For this reason, I urge all without health insurance, available through public and private insurance options in your state, you learn by being able to do a five-question quiz at the Foundation for Health Coverage Education website. You can also compare Healthcare.gov for insurance options and plans side-by-side.

It is also a good idea with an experienced agent, the insurance market, where you live (do you free of charge) goes to work. You can use a. In the National Assn of Health Underwriters website.

Finally, if you are a pre-existing health condition and have been uninsured for at least six months, it is worthwhile to check whether you can afford one of the state-run Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIPs) in each state. Details can be found on the government website.

Tell me what's wrong with you: Have you lost job-based health insurance? If so, how have you handled it?