Health insurance in the United States

The health insurance is generally used in the United States to explain any program that helps pay for medical expenses, whether through privately purchased insurance, social insurance or a non-insurance social welfare program funded by the government. Synonyms for this usage include "health coverage," "health care coverage" and "health benefits." In a more technical sense, the term is used to describe any form of insurance that provides protection against injury or illness. This usage includes private insurance and social insurance programs such as Medicare, but excludes social welfare programs such as Medicaid. In adding to medical expense insurance, it also includes insurance covering disability or enduring nursing or custodial care needs.

The US market-based health care system relies a lot of on private and not-for-profit health insurance, which is the main source of coverage for majority of the Americans. According to the United States Census Bureau, about 84% of Americans have health insurance; some 60% get it through an employer, while about 9% purchase it directly. Various government agencies provide coverage to about 27% of Americans (. In 2006, there were 47 million people in the US (16% of the population) who were without health insurance for at least part of that year. The percentage of the non-elderly population who are uninsured has been normally increasing since the year 2000. There is significant debate in the US on the causes of and possible remedies for this level of uninsurance as well as the impact it has on the overall US health care system.


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