Question

Debate the various social factors associated with the situation of the "underinsured."

Answer 1

The Patient Advocate Foundation defines the underinsured individuals as those that contain insurance coverage but is not enough to meet their healthcare needs or the insured . Social factors such as poverty, health status are associated with the situation of the underinsured. For individuals and for families, being uninsured can be associated with a loss of income. A family’s breadwinner may lose a job that included health insurance coverage, or an individual’s inability to work because of poor health may be prolonged or made worse by a lack of coverage for treatment that would improve the individual’s health (IOM, 2002a, 2002b). For the communities in which uninsured individuals and families live, the lack or loss of health insurance coverage by some may undermine the shared economic and social foundations of the entire community.