As the major insurance coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act are scheduled to begin in January 2014, a recent survey indicates that nearly half of working U.S. adults were uninsured or underinsured at some point in 2012. According to the survey, about 30% of adults between ages 19 and 64 went without health insurance for part or all of 2012, which is nearly 10 million more than the 26% who went without coverage in 2003. An additional 30 million people were considered “underinsured,” which means that, although they had insurance, they also had out-of-pocket costs so high that it was considered to be an obstacle for them. Hopefully, the major coverage provisions beginning in 2014 will reduce these numbers.
NOTE: In the survey mentioned above, “underinsured” was defined as out-of-pocket expenses that reached 10% or more of income (5% or more if income was below 200% of the federal poverty level) or deductibles that were 5% or more of income.