Managed CareToday Presents:
The Uninsured: What Do The Numbers Say?
As 1996 begin, Health Insurance coverage still presents as a major problem for many Americans. According to The Sunday Record (NJ; December 31, 1995), the following statistics apply to New Jersey Residents:
1,034,000 is the estimated number of uninsured in New Jersey in 1994;
125,000 is the estimated number of visits to the hospital by uninsured people in 1994;
The range of monthly charges in each coverage group
(Rates
shown are ranges of premiums charged by 28 firms offering New
Jersey's "Plan D." The plan, with the largest number
of subscribers, pays for 80 percent of covered expenses. These
rates provide for a $1,000 deductible):
$147.00 to $371.00 are the costs for a single person;
$273.00 to $747.00 are the costs for a husband and wife;
$245.00 to $617.00 are the costs for a single parent and children;
$370.00 to $942.00 are the costs for a family.
According to the article, "Three years ago, New Jersey
overhauled its health-care system to make insurance easier to
get. About 110,000 people who previously lacked insurance got
it as a result. But the reforms did nothing to control the cost
of insurance -- and have left 1,034,000 people without it".
What will the future hold? In New York, Insurance Equality
remains a primary goal of the Chiropractic profession. And what
of the role Managed Care will play in the future of the reimbursement
system? While more and more of the policies being purchased are
of the Managed Care variety, is the quality of the health care
being rendered really being improved?
According to the August 28, 1995 issue of Crain's New York
Business, the following is a representation of the Largest managed-care
networks, ranked by New York City's enrolled members :
1 ...... GHI .......... 877,313 members
2 ...... MagnaCare .......... 742,000 members
3 ...... HIP .......... 670,828 members
4 ...... Multiplan Inc. .......... 395,000 members
5 ...... Oxford Health Plans, Inc. .......... 387,400 members
6 ...... BlueChoice .......... 313,000 members
7 ...... US Healthcare Inc. .......... 288,794 members
8 ...... Aetna Health Plans .......... 253,185 members
9 ...... MetLife HealthCare Network of New York ..........
189,962 members
10 .... Cigna HealthCare .......... 119,649 members
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