Impotence


Impotence or Erectile Dysfunction, in medicine, condition in which a man is unable to attain an erect penis that is rigid enough for sexual penetration or sexual satisfaction. Impotence should not be confused with premature ejaculation, loss of libido, or absence of orgasm; in all of these cases, satisfactory erection may be obtained.

Impotence is a common problem; in the United States between 10 and 15 million men suffer from severe erectile dysfunction. The incidence of this problem increases with age. Less than 1 percent of the male population under 30 years of age is affected, 3 percent under 45 years, 7 percent between 45 and 55 years, 25 percent at age 65, and up to 75 percent in men 80 years old. Impotence appears to be on the rise, but this may be due to increasing life span.

Impotence is classified as either primary or secondary. Primary impotence is expressed early in adolescence as a fundamental inability to achieve erection; secondary impotence is more common and consists of an onset of erectile inability during adulthood, after a period of normal erectile ability.

Normally, when a man becomes sexually aroused, his penis increases in size, becoming erect and rigid, enabling sexual penetration. An average penis is between 7 cm (about 3 in) and 10 cm (about 4 in) long; when it is erect it increases in length to between 13 cm (about 5 in) and 18 cm (about 7 in). An erection occurs when the penis fills with blood. An erect penis contains six or seven times the blood volume of a flaccid penis. During erection, the rate of blood flow into the penis is greater than the rate at which the blood drains out, which leads to an accumulation of blood within the corpus cavernosum (cavernous spaces) of the organ. The process of erection is controlled by the autonomic nervous system.

CAUSES OF IMPOTENCE

There are various causes of impotence. In primary anatomic impotence the genitals themselves may be faulty. In secondary impotence, functional causes such as psychological problems and side effects of drugs taken for other disorders account for the greatest number of cases.

The most common psychological factors contributing to impotence are stress in a man's life or difficulties in his sexual relationships. For example, if a man has suddenly lost his job, his feeling of failure may lead to temporary impotence. It is possible to tell if the cause of a man's impotence is solely psychological; if he still experiences normal erections during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, there is unlikely to be any physical reason for his impotence when conscious. However, in some cases a physical condition that is not severe enough to produce impotence on its own may make a man more likely to develop impotence if minor psychological factors are also present.
Many drugs can contribute to impotence. Diuretics, tricyclic antidepressants, H2 blockers, beta-blockers, and hormones are among the most common; once the drug treatment is halted, normal erections typically resume (unless psychological problems have developed in the meantime).
Other causes of impotence have to do with physical conditions, disease, or trauma. Among these, diabetes mellitus accounts for 40 percent of the cases in the United States; vascular diseases, 30 percent; surgery on the pelvis or penis, 13 percent; spinal cord injury, 8 percent; endocrine (glandular) problems, 6 percent, and multiple sclerosis, 3 percent.

Treatments for impotence

were described in the literature of the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Modern treatment of impotence takes into account both the physical and psychological causes of the condition. Many impotent men have been affected originally by a purely physical problem, but by the time they seek treatment, their condition is complicated by psychological factors.

There are several types of physical treatment for impotence. Since the early 1980s, it has been possible for affected men to inject a drug in the corpus cavernosum of their penis (intracorporeal pharmotherapy). This affects the smooth muscle tone in the blood vessels, producing an erection that lasts for about an hour. If this treatment is used over a long period of time, however, problems with scarring may occur. The most common drug used in this manner is Prostaglandin E1. Less commonly used drugs are papaverine and phentolamine or combinations of these three drugs.

A prosthesis may be inserted into the penis under anesthetic. This may be a semirigid rod that makes the penis permanently erect. Some newer devices enable the patient to control an inflatable rod. Technology in this area is still developing and a wide range of plastic or silicone prostheses are available. The implant may function for several years. The most common complication is infection due to the implant surgery.

There are several gadgets on the market, known as vacuum constriction devices, that draw blood into the corpus cavernosum, causing the penis to become erect. An elastic ring is placed around the penis in order to maintain the erection.

A number of drugs taken orally or applied topically are known to affect erectile ability, including those affecting nerve transmission, muscle relaxation, and hormones. Some traditional drugs known to have aphrodisiac properties are among these. They are seldom prescribed by physicians because their functions, side effects, and interactions with other drugs are not well known. In 1998 the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of sildenafil, a drug marketed under the brand name Viagra, for use in treating impotence. Viagra, which works by slowing the rate of blood flow out of the penis, is taken orally in tablet form. A number of other drugs to treat impotence, such as Cialis, the brand name for tadalafil, and Levitra, the brand name for vardenafil, have since been approved. Cialis is effective for longer periods, up to 36 hours, compared with Viagra and Levitra, which are effective for up to 4 hours.

Treatments based on various forms of psychotherapy are also widely used. In 1970 the team of William Masters and Virginia Johnson proposed a program of behavioral therapy for an affected man and his partner. This method has been widely accepted and involves abstinence from intercourse for several weeks while the couple develops other aspects of their physical relationship. Only when the man is able to have an erection and sustain it on several occasions should the couple attempt intercourse.

Avian Flu


Avian Flu, also known as bird flu, an infectious disease of wild and domestic birds, caused by a range of viruses known as Type A influenza viruses. Variants of avian influenza viruses have also infected humans and a number of other mammals.

Avian influenza viruses exist in wild populations of seabirds, shorebirds, and other wildfowl, but do not usually cause illness in wild bird species. When wild birds contaminate ponds and fields with fecal droppings containing the virus, however, domesticated birds such as chickens, turkeys, and ducks can be infected. For these species, avian influenza is often fatal, afflicting the respiratory system and nervous system, and opening the way for dangerous bacterial infections. With their nasal and fecal secretions, sick individuals can rapidly spread illness to other poultry in the close confines of a farm enclosure or live animal market.

Avian influenza was not known to directly infect humans until 1997, when an outbreak in Hong Kong, China, caused by infected poultry, sickened 18 people, killing 6 of them. Death was caused by pneumonia or other respiratory ailments, kidney failure, or related complications. Symptoms of avian flu resemble those of other influenzas: fever, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches. Although humans have a degree of immunity to the influenza subtypes that circulate during the winter flu season, the human immune system is unaccustomed to recognizing and fighting off avian influenza. This makes the avian viral strains all the more dangerous. After the 1997 Hong Kong episode, other outbreaks of avian influenza followed.

Further confirmation that avian influenza can directly infect humans came in 2005 when scientists succeeded in reconstructing the infamous 1918 influenza virus, known as the Spanish flu, that killed from 20 million to 50 million people worldwide in the worst-known influenza pandemic. Two teams of United States government and university scientists succeeded in assembling the entire genetic code of the 1918 virus after discovering viral samples in the tissues of three victims of the disease, including a woman buried in Alaska’s permafrost whose body remained frozen. The scientists injected the reconstructed virus into fertilized bird eggs. The eggs died, confirming that the virus had an avian rather than human origin because a human influenza virus will not kill bird eggs.

Scientists identify the various strains of avian flu and other varieties of Type A influenza by categorizing them according to the differences in two key proteins found on the surface of the virus. The two proteins are Hemagglutinin (H) and Neuraminidase (N). There are 15 major subtypes of H and 9 major subtypes of N. The virus that caused the 1997 Hong Kong outbreak was designated H5N1 because the key proteins on the surface of the virus were subtype H5 and subtype N1. Tests determined that strains related to H5N1 were behind the deadly Asian outbreak that began in 2003. Some poultry farms in Europe and the eastern United States, meanwhile, suffered outbreaks in 2003 and 2004 of subtypes of H7, an avian strain that is currently believed to be less dangerous to humans.

Avian influenza appears to spread from birds to humans through direct, close contact with sick birds or with fecal-contaminated surfaces. As yet there is no confirmed evidence that current avian influenza viruses spread from person to person. Influenza viruses, however, mutate (change) easily. Scientists and public health experts fear that an avian flu strain might strike a person who is already infected with a human variant of influenza. The two variants could swap, or combine, their viral components in the infected person before spreading to other people. This combination of virus components could even take place in a susceptible mammal, such as a pig.

The result could be a novel virus strain completely unknown to the human immune system. It could be especially virulent and cause death in a high percentage of infected individuals, passing easily from person to person. Such a virus could touch off a global epidemic, or pandemic, of influenza that could kill millions of people. The grim benchmark for such a catastrophe is the “Spanish flu” outbreak of 1918.

Currently, the most effective means of fighting avian influenza is the destruction of infected birds or those at risk of infection, often millions at a time when outbreaks occur. In August 2005 the U.S. National Institutes of Health reported that the first trials of an avian flu vaccine were effective in humans. However, public health officials expressed concern that the vaccine did not exist in sufficient amounts to respond to a pandemic. Drugs, such as Tamiflu, can be used to treat avian flu, but some studies suggest that Tamiflu may not be fully effective against the H5N1 virus. Public health officials say there is no danger to the public from eating poultry or eggs as long as they are well cooked.

HEALTH INSURANCE IN OTHER COUNTRIES


Germany introduced the first national health insurance program in 1883. Other industrialized countries adopted government-funded health insurance systems in the early 20th century. Most of these programs grew extensively after World War II (1939-1945), but some have always offered more extensive coverage than others.

Many countries—such as Brazil, Mexico, Russia, and Sweden—directly employ physicians who treat patients in government-operated facilities. In other countries—such as Britain, Norway, and Spain—governments pay private physicians who may also practice outside government-funded programs.

Government-funded health insurance systems increasingly offer incentives for people to seek supplementary coverage through private insurance companies. For example, in 1998 China introduced a program designed to guarantee government-sponsored health insurance for all workers, but this program also imposes ceilings on annual reimbursements to insured individuals. To make up for the shortfall in government subsidies, employers that can afford to do so are encouraged by the government to subscribe to supplementary health insurance plans through private companies.

Australia also encourages citizens to join private health plans. The Australian government has long guaranteed basic health insurance for its citizens through its Medicare plan, but many Australians have traditionally chosen to subscribe to more comprehensive private plans. As health care costs rose in the 1980s and 1990s, however, many Australians abandoned private health insurance for Medicare. For example, in 1984 about 50 percent of Australians used the Medicare system, but by 1996 that figure had risen to 67 percent. This increased burden on public funds led to proposals in 1997 for government subsidies for low-income Australians who subscribe to private insurance.


Contributed By:
Norma L. Nielson


Canada Health Act

In 1979 a federal government study found that doctors in some provinces were charging patients an extra fee to supplement the amount they were paid by the government plan. The study determined that these supplemental user fees had created an unequal system that threatened to limit access to health care for low-income citizens. The Canadian Parliament responded to these concerns by passing the Canada Health Act in 1984. This legislation reaffirmed the government’s commitment to a universal, comprehensive, and publicly administered health insurance system. Today, the Canada Health Act continues to define the central principles of the Canadian health care system.

Despite general public satisfaction with Canada’s health insurance programs, increased health care costs, coupled with declining federal government support have threatened the ability of these programs to meet the country’s medical needs. For example, limited public resources for health care often force Canadians to wait a substantial period of time for nonemergency medical treatments. The waiting time to see a medical specialist can be especially long. Some critics of the public health care system believe that better access to private insurance could alleviate many of these problems. These critics have called on the government to encourage further development of private health care options that could supplement the public programs.

HISTORY IN THE UNITED STATES

X HISTORY IN THE UNITED STATES


Health insurance in the United States is a relatively new phenomenon, dating to the time of the Civil War (1861-1865). Early forms of health insurance mainly offered coverage against accidents arising from travel, especially by rail and steamboat. The success of accident insurance paved the way for the first insurance plans covering illness and injury. The first insurance against sickness was offered by Massachusetts Health Insurance of Boston in 1847. Insurance companies issued the first individual policies offering disability insurance in 1890.

The first modern group health insurance policy was issued in 1929, when a group of teachers in Dallas, Texas, contracted with Baylor Hospital for room, board, and medical services as needed in exchange for a monthly fee. Many life insurance companies entered the health insurance field in the 1930s and 1940s, and the popularity of health insurance grew quickly. In 1932 nonprofit organizations called Blue Cross or Blue Shield first began to offer policies of group health insurance. Blue Cross and Blue Shield were the first programs that established contracts directly with health care providers, who would then offer services to subscribers at reduced rates. Originally, Blue Cross plans covered the cost of hospital care, whereas Blue Shield plans covered doctors’ bills. Eventually, however, both Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans began covering all health care services.

Employee benefit plans became a widespread source of health insurance in the 1940s and 1950s. Increased union membership at U.S. factories enabled union leaders to bargain for better benefit packages, including tax-free, employer-sponsored health insurance. Wage freezes imposed during World War II (1939-1945) also drove the growth of employee benefit plans. Unable by law to attract scarce workers by increasing wages, employers instead enhanced their benefit packages to include health care coverage.

Government programs to cover health care costs began to expand during the 1950s and 1960s. Disability benefits were included in social security coverage for the first time in 1954. When the government first implemented Medicare and Medicaid programs in 1965, private sources paid 75 percent of health care costs in the United States. By 1995 that number had dropped to only 53.8 percent.

Throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s the majority of employer-sponsored group insurance plans switched from fee-for-service plans to managed care plans. As a result, most Americans with health insurance were enrolled in managed care plans by the mid-1990s. For example, in 1980 only 9.1 million Americans were enrolled in health maintenance organizations. By 1995 that figure had risen to 46.2 million. Employers made the change to managed care as part of an effort to improve the quality of health care for their employees while also monitoring the cost of providing insurance.

In 1993 President Bill Clinton presented to the U.S. Congress a health care reform plan that would guarantee health insurance for all Americans. Under the leadership of the president’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic Clinton administration’s special commission on health care reform claimed that in addition to providing universal health insurance, the proposal would stem the rapidly rising cost of health care. Republican leaders in Congress fiercely opposed the plan for being too expensive and for imposing excessive governmental regulations on health care. Opponents of the plan also attacked it for restricting patient choice of health care providers and for placing an undue burden on small businesses by forcing them to provide health insurance for their employees. In 1994 members of Congress introduced a variety of alternative proposals, but the administration never reached a compromise with Republicans, and Clinton’s health care reform package never became law.

In 1996 Congress passed the Mental Health Parity Act, a law that requires employers with more than 50 workers to offer health plans that set yearly and lifetime limits for mental health care at the same level as limits for physical health care. Despite these important safeguards for workers, the law allows employers in some states to eliminate coverage of services to treat mental illness altogether. Also, the law allows employer-sponsored plans to charge higher deductibles and copayments to workers seeking mental health care.

Congress also passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 1996. This legislation extends the basic provisions of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) by further protecting individuals from losing their health insurance when they move from one job to another, become self-employed, or have preexisting medical conditions. However, the Health Insurance Portability Act does little to ensure the overall quality or comprehensiveness of insurance offered by employers.

Origins of National Health Insurance

Origins of National Health Insurance

Before the late 1940s private sources paid for the vast majority of health care in Canada. In 1947 the province of Saskatchewan introduced a public insurance plan to cover the cost of hospital services for its citizens. The federal government introduced a program in 1956 to develop hospital insurance plans in all provinces. In this program, the federal government offered to share with the provinces the costs of hospital and diagnostic services. By 1961 all ten provinces and the two territories in Canada had established public insurance plans that provided universal coverage for at least inpatient hospital care.

In 1962 Saskatchewan introduced public medical insurance to cover services by physicians outside hospitals. The federal government established the comprehensive medical care program, called Medicare, in 1968. By 1972 all of the provincial and territorial health care plans had expanded to cover physicians’ services.

HEALTH INSURANCE IN CANADA

XI HEALTH INSURANCE IN CANADA

In Canada, a publicly financed health care system called Medicare provides comprehensive coverage for every Canadian citizen. Sometimes referred to as a single-payer system, the Canadian health care plan pays everyone’s medical bills using tax money from provincial and federal sources. Each individual province manages the delivery of health services to its citizens, but all of the various provincial and territorial health insurance systems are linked through adherence to the Canada Health Act, a set of health care standards set at the federal level. The federal government also directs a variety of initiatives to prevent disease and to promote health.

Canadians may also purchase private health insurance to supplement the government plans. However, private health insurance in Canada is restricted from offering coverage for services already provided by provincial health plans. Despite these limitations in coverage, increased restrictions of Medicare have led many Canadians to obtain private health insurance.

Alternative Medicine

Alternative Medicine

An increasing number of health insurance policies provide benefits for so-called alternative medicine—that is, for therapeutic practices and treatments that lie outside the mainstream of Western medical care. Policies that cover alternative medicine may provide benefits for such treatments as acupuncture, chiropractic care, therapeutic massage, and naturopathy (treatments that avoid drugs and surgery in favor of natural remedies). Advocates of alternative medical practices believe that they can provide safe, natural approaches to treating illnesses or injuries that conventional medicine has had limited success in curing, such as chronic pain and drug addiction.

Substance Abuse and Alcoholism Treatment

Substance Abuse and Alcoholism Treatment

Most comprehensive policies offer limited coverage for treatment of alcoholism and other forms of substance abuse. These policies generally pay a percentage of the cost for treatment performed by an approved facility or counselor, but benefits are usually limited to a maximum amount paid over a specified period.

Emergency Care

Emergency Care

Most insurance policies cover emergency care provided in hospital emergency departments, but they generally discourage overuse of emergency room visits by requiring the patient to make a copayment. Health insurance policies also usually offer limited coverage for ambulance transportation to emergency rooms.

Outpatient Care

Outpatient Care

Patients who do not require an overnight hospital stay receive outpatient care, which is generally covered by comprehensive policies. Outpatient care could be provided in a doctor’s office, a neighborhood clinic, or in a hospital if the patient is sent home the same day. For example, patients often will come to the hospital the day before surgery so that doctors can perform blood tests. Simple surgeries like a tonsillectomy (a procedure to remove the tonsils) usually can be performed on an outpatient basis. Even very sophisticated surgeries like a cochlear implant (a device used to stimulate the auditory nerve in deaf people) often do not require a hospital stay. To encourage patients to make cost-effective use of the health care system, health insurance plans—particularly managed care plans—often include financial incentives to use outpatient services whenever possible.

Treatment of mental illness is commonly performed on an outpatient basis, but insurance coverage is often limited for such services as psychotherapy. For example, private insurers generally pay 80 percent of the cost of most outpatient medical services, but they traditionally limit reimbursement for psychotherapy to 50 percent or less of its cost. Also, many insurers limit their coverage of psychotherapy to a specified maximum dollar amount or to a maximum number of visits.

Many insurance policies will offer coverage of health care performed in the patient’s home by an approved medical provider. Home health care benefits are generally limited to medically necessary services that are part of a treatment plan prescribed by the patient’s doctor. Some policies also cover hospice care that allows a terminally ill patient to receive health care services at home or in an approved hospice center instead of in a hospital.


SPECIFIC BENEFITS

IX SPECIFIC BENEFITS

Each health plan or insurance policy must define what kinds of medical services are covered by insurance. These policies must also explain limitations or exclusions of coverage for specific services. In addition, insurance policies define the kinds of medical care providers that are covered by insurance. For example, covered providers usually include physicians and hospitals, but the policy’s terms may also include coverage for nurse practitioners, midwives, chiropractors, and naturopaths.

Almost all health insurance plans cover the cost of diagnostic tests, prescription drugs, and other items necessary to provide care in hospitals. Some policies also provide coverage for such things as prescription drugs to be taken outside of hospital settings.

A Inpatient Hospital Care

Hospitals provide inpatient care when they admit a patient for an overnight stay. Most comprehensive health insurance policies cover the costs of inpatient care as long as that level of care is considered necessary to treat the patient’s condition.

Hospital indemnity policies pay a specified dollar amount per day of inpatient care, regardless of the cause of the hospitalization. The amount paid by the insurer varies neither with the services provided nor with the expense of those services. The benefit amounts paid by hospital indemnity policies are generally quite low when compared with the typical cost of a hospital stay.

Long-Term Care Policies

Long-Term Care Policies

Americans increasingly buy long-term care policies to cover nursing home costs. Medicare and most private medical insurance policies cover medically necessary services such as care while recuperating from surgery, but they do not pay for the so-called custodial care offered by nursing homes. In about 80 percent of American families, at least one family member will eventually need long-term care. The average annual cost of a nursing home stay in the United States is around $40,000. Long-term care policies can help families meet these high medical expenses incurred by the elderly.

Specified Disease Policies

Specified Disease Policies

Some insurance companies offer specified disease policies that cover only one illness, such as cancer. These plans offer no benefits at all for medical costs associated with any disease other than that specified in the policy. Therefore, most people who purchase these policies also need to be covered by a more comprehensive policy. Some of these policies provide only for the treatment of the specified illness and exclude from their benefits package the costs of diagnosing the disease.


Catastrophic Coverage

Catastrophic Coverage

Catastrophic health insurance—also known as major medical insurance—is a policy of health insurance with a relatively high deductible, often as high as $500 or $1000. Although catastrophic health insurance policies offer coverage only beyond this high deductible amount, they can help people avoid bankruptcy in the event of a catastrophic illness or injury that requires expensive medical treatments. Because catastrophic health insurance policies have a high deductible, they typically charge policyholders relatively low monthly premiums.


Hospital-Surgical Coverage

Hospital-Surgical Coverage

Hospital-Surgical policies provide separate limits for hospital charges and for physician charges associated with a hospital stay. A hospital-surgical plan usually limits its benefits to cover a relatively low amount of medical costs, so most people consider it only in conjunction with a more comprehensive policy.

LEVEL OF COVERAGE

VIII LEVEL OF COVERAGE

The extent to which an insurance policy will cover specific health care services varies considerably based on the level of benefits outlined in the policy. Because each person has different medical needs and risks, no one level of health insurance coverage is right for everyone. Some of the most common levels of coverage available in the United States include comprehensive medical insurance, hospital-surgical insurance, catastrophic health insurance, specified disease insurance, and long-term care insurance.


A Comprehensive Coverage

Comprehensive medical insurance is a single plan that combines coverage for both doctor and hospital charges. Most medical services are covered by comprehensive policies, although even comprehensive plans limit benefits for certain specific conditions. They also may not cover services associated with preexisting conditions.

Preexisting Conditions

Preexisting Conditions

When a policyholder has medical conditions before being issued a health insurance policy, these are referred to in the new policy as preexisting conditions. Many newly issued policies contain a clause that limits the amount the insurance company will pay for services related to preexisting conditions. The precise limit can be expressed in this clause as a dollar amount, as a period of time for which benefits are limited, or as a permanent exclusion of coverage for particular services related to the conditions. By including such clauses, private insurance companies can make limited insurance available even to people with known health problems. At the same time, these clauses protect the company and the other members of the policy group from the likelihood of paying large bills associated with new policyholders’ preexisting conditions.


Lifetime Policy Limit

Lifetime Policy Limit

Some health insurance companies establish lifetime policy limits that define the maximum amount the insurer agrees to pay for a policyholder’s medical expenses. For example, a policy with a $500,000 limit pays up to $500,000 toward covered medical expenses over the life of the policy. A policy covering as much as $1 million or more of medical expenses usually does not cost the policyholder much more in premiums than one with $250,000 or $500,000 limits. The difference in cost is so slight because the probability of needing the highest amounts of coverage is very small. If the cost of medical services exceeds the lifetime policy limit, the insured person is liable for the difference, regardless of the limits set by the out-of-pocket maximum.


Out-of-Pocket Maximum

Out-of-Pocket Maximum

Health insurance policies define the maximum amount that an individual or family must pay each year for deductibles and coinsurance combined. This amount is called the out-of-pocket maximum. For example, a policy with a $250-per-person deductible might have a $1,000 limit on the total amount that a person would have to pay in both deductibles and coinsurance.

Terms and Limits

Terms and Limits

Most health insurance policies limit coverage to services that the insurance company defines as both “reasonable and necessary.” These terms are key to understanding the policy’s benefits because they define whether particular services are within the scope of coverage.

Insurance companies carefully determine what they consider to be “reasonable” costs of medical services. To do this, an insurance company gathers statistics on what health care providers in a particular area typically charge for identical or similar services. That information helps the company determine the amounts it considers to be reasonable. For example, many insurance policies cover payment for an office visit to a doctor. If 90 percent of the doctors in a particular geographical area charge $60 or less for an office visit, an insurance company might logically decide to limit its policy’s coverage of office visits to the first $60 in charges. When a particular patient’s doctor charges $75 for an office visit, the insurance company may send the patient a bill—known as a balance billing charge—for the additional $15. Some benefit programs, such as Medicare, may not hold patients responsible for balance billing charges.

Insurance companies also determine what they consider to be “necessary” medical treatments. Health insurance contracts limit coverage to services that are considered important to maintaining sound health. For example, services such as cosmetic surgery usually are not considered necessary except in specific circumstances, such as after a disfiguring accident.

Premium

Premium

Insurance policies charge a certain monthly amount—called a premium—to maintain an insurance contract. The premium is the payment an individual policyholder makes in exchange for the promise of financial assistance for medical costs. The premium charged for the insurance reflects the value of the benefits received. For example, insurance with a $500 deductible generally has a lower premium than insurance with a $250 deductible.

Copayment

Copayment

Most managed care policies require policyholders to make a modest payment—called a copayment—toward the cost of services for each visit to a health care provider. Copayments are usually $10 or less. Although the amount of money collected from copayments may contribute little toward the actual cost of medical services, it does force some cost onto consumers in a way that provides incentives against overusing the health care system. These policies also assume that unless patients pay something for the services they receive, they place little value on those services. Indemnity plans typically do not require policyholders to make a copayment in addition to the deductible amount.

Coinsurance

Coinsurance

Many insurance policies also require policyholders to pay a certain portion of medical costs that exceed the deductible. This extra amount is called the coinsurance figure. For example, consider a person who has already paid her policy’s deductible for the year and then has a diagnostic test that costs $100. If that person’s health insurance policy sets the terms of coinsurance at 20 percent, the insurance company must pay $80 of the bill for the test and the policyholder must pay $20. Policies that do not require a coinsurance payment usually charge subscribers a relatively high premium.

FEATURES OF HEALTH INSURANCE POLICIES

VII FEATURES OF HEALTH INSURANCE POLICIES

Nearly all health insurance policies in the United States share a few common features, regardless of whether the policies are purchased by individuals or through an employer. These features generally define the extent of benefits provided by a given health insurance policy.


A Deductible

Health insurance policyholders pay a specified amount of money each year for medical services before the insurance policy pays anything at all. This amount is called the deductible. For example, a person who selects a policy with a $500 deductible agrees to pay the first $500 of medical costs in a given year. Likewise, the insurance company agrees to pay some or all costs that exceed $500. Policies with a low deductible generally charge a relatively high monthly fee—called a premium—to maintain the insurance account. Policies may express the deductible in terms of per-person and per-family amounts. For example, the policy might provide for a deductible amount of $250 per person, but it might also set a maximum deductible of $500 per family when more than one person in the family has incurred medical expenses.

Individual Plans

Individual Plans

Individuals who do not have access to less expensive group plans can buy policies directly from health insurance companies. Approximately 10 percent of Americans purchase individual health insurance policies to cover medical costs.

Group and Employer Plans

Group and Employer Plans

Groups of people who have something in common other than their need for insurance often can join forces to purchase group health insurance. For example, individuals who all work for the same employer may join a group health insurance plan sponsored by their employer. Group plans typically have lower administrative costs than do individual health insurance plans, so they are able to charge individual subscribers lower monthly premiums. They also offer significant tax advantages in the United States.

Approximately two-thirds of American families obtain health insurance coverage through employer-sponsored group plans. Employers usually cover some or all of the cost of group health insurance for plan participants. Most employer-sponsored programs are with managed care programs, although many employers offer workers a choice of managed care or fee-for-service plans.

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1985, requires most U.S. companies to allow employees, their spouses, and their dependent children to stay on the company’s medical plan after eligibility would normally end. This law requires companies to provide health coverage to workers who are laid off, to ex-spouses of workers after a death or divorce, to children of workers who reach the plan’s cutoff age, and to others in certain circumstances.

However, COBRA allows the terms of plan participation to change, so companies almost always require participants in these circumstances to start paying the full cost of coverage. Nevertheless, COBRA provides many people with important safeguards. Under the provisions of COBRA, health insurance coverage continues without interruption, the cost may be substantially less than an individual plan, and coverage is guaranteed to be available for either 18 or 36 months (depending on the event that qualified the individual for COBRA benefits in the first place). In addition, this coverage continues regardless of any changes in the beneficiary’s health conditions. The regulations outlined in COBRA also apply to workers covered by self-insured plans.

OBTAINING COVERAGE

OBTAINING COVERAGE

People can obtain private health insurance coverage as a member of a group or as an individual. Both group plans and individual plans may offer coverage in either a managed care program or in a fee-for-service program. Most Americans receive group coverage through their employers, although some Americans join group plans through unions, professional associations, and other organizations that offer group insurance policies. People who obtain health insurance as individuals are typically self-employed, or they work for small companies that do not provide insurance. Elderly and some low-income Americans may qualify for the government-funded health insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid.

DISABILITY INSURANCE

DISABILITY INSURANCE

Another type of health insurance coverage is disability insurance, which replaces workers’ income when an accident or illness prevents them from performing their jobs. Disability insurance is less common than medical coverage, but it can be important to assure future financial security for any family that depends on each paycheck to meet its financial obligations. Benefits are generally structured to pay a proportion of a person’s actual earnings, usually from 40 to 60 percent. Short-term disability insurance covers up to six months of disability. Coverage for longer than six months is called long-term disability insurance. Most disability insurance policies limit coverage to a maximum period of time—such as to age 65—that determines the term of the policy.

A few U.S. states operate a system of public short-term disability coverage. The states collect payroll taxes from all workers to fund these programs. Employer-sponsored group plans can also provide disability insurance, but most employer-provided disability insurance ends when workers change jobs.


Medicaid

Health Insurance

SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UNITED STATES

REASONS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE

TYPES OF PLANS IN THE UNITED STATES

Medicaid

Medicaid programs provide medical coverage for some people with low incomes, especially children and pregnant women. Depending on individual state eligibility requirements, Medicaid may also provide coverage for adults with certain disabilities. State programs that meet federal guidelines qualify to receive federal funding that pays for most of the program’s cost. These guidelines use federal statistics that define the poverty level (minimum level of income below which households are considered poor) to help states determine which low-income families are eligible for Medicaid.

As originally conceived, any household that fell below the federal poverty level would qualify for Medicaid benefits. In practice, however, budget shortfalls have forced states to vary eligibility standards for Medicaid. In a particular budget cycle, for example, a given state might set its eligibility requirements at 80 percent of the federal poverty level. For that year, households earning 79 percent of the federal poverty level could receive government-paid health care, but those earning 81 percent could receive no Medicaid benefits.

Advocates for the poor have led calls for Medicaid reform that would reinstate health insurance for all Americans below the federal poverty level. Between 1989 and 1995 the state of Oregon made changes in health care policy that many other states considered a model for national Medicaid reform. Oregon passed several pieces of legislation—collectively known as the Oregon Health Plan—that shifted its Medicaid requirements away from a mechanism that divided the population falling below federal poverty-level standards. Instead of asking who among the poor should receive state assistance with medical costs, the state asked what services the poor should receive, since there were not enough resources to provide all services to all qualified citizens. The Oregon Health Plan became the first state plan to limit public funding for certain health care services, but in doing so it expanded basic services to virtually all of the state’s poor citizens.



Medicare



Health Insurance

SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UNITED STATES

REASONS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE

TYPES OF PLANS IN THE UNITED STATES

Medicare

Medicare is a health insurance program in the United States that helps provide access to health services for citizens 65 years of age and older. It also provides health coverage for people under age 65 who have certain disabilities, such as kidney disease. Medicare is funded primarily by federal payroll taxes and by monthly premiums paid by participants.

As with other U.S. government health programs, Medicare provides a foundation of insurance, but it also leaves gaps in the services it covers. As a result, many Americans covered by Medicare choose to purchase private insurance—sometimes called “Medigap” insurance—to supplement Medicare’s coverage. While some employers offer supplemental coverage to their retired workers, many individuals purchase coverage designed to supplement Medicare when they first become eligible for the Medicare program.

Because insurance is regulated on a state-by-state basis, Medicare supplement policies can vary from one state to the next. However, in the 1980s the National Association of Insurance Commissioners persuaded many states to require that health insurance companies offer a core Medicare supplement policy called Plan A. Many insurance companies also offer nine additional plans (B through J) that feature increased benefits—and costs. For example, only the three most expensive plans (H, I, and J) cover the cost of prescription drugs.




Government-Funded Plans


Health Insurance

SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UNITED STATES

REASONS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE

TYPES OF PLANS IN THE UNITED STATES

Government-Funded Plans

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1965, Medicare and Medicaid offer basic health care coverage to qualified individuals, but these programs do not always provide access to comprehensive medical treatment. Limited funding for these programs can also lead to long waiting periods for nonemergency procedures.



Health Maintenance Organizations


Health Insurance

SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UNITED STATES

REASONS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE

TYPES OF PLANS IN THE UNITED STATES

Health Maintenance Organizations

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) agree to provide whatever medical services are required in exchange for the plan participant’s monthly premium payment. HMO members generally receive excellent coverage of routine health care services, but they often face restrictions on their choices of doctors and hospitals. Services provided by HMO member physicians and facilities are covered almost in their entirety. Services provided by nonmember physicians and facilities are not covered at all except in emergencies or when specialized care is needed and the referral is authorized in advance.

The way in which an HMO is organized determines which health care providers are available to its members. A group practice association, such as the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, is both an insurer and a provider of health care services. It hires health care providers as employees and builds its own hospital facilities. Members of a group practice association may arrange for any physician employed by the group to be their primary care physician—their first contact for health care. An independent practice association establishes a contractual relationship with doctors and hospitals to provide services to its members. In a group practice association and in an independent practice association, patients who require specialty care usually may obtain referrals to see specialists only within the HMO, unless the specialty care needed is not available within the group.



 
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