Research Paper on:
Uninsured in the United States Single-Payer Health Care in Massachusetts: A Policy Memo

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be met. Though the cost of insurance is often less than the cost of health care services if paid on an individual basis, many families do not have the  financial capacity to provide private coverage for their families. If a person in the family has a pre-existing condition, many insurance companies can increase deductibles, increase premiums, or increase  co-payments in order to relieve some of their cost in the treatment of the condition. Other insurance companies will chose not to insure the individual with the pre-existing condition,  though recent legislation has been designed to relieve this problem. Either way, the message is the same--the health insurance costs in the United States are often prohibitive for middle  class families. There are many misconceptions about the uninsured, underinsured and uninsurable in the United States. Many people who have insurance coverage through their employers, perceive this  group as consisting of impoverished families, many of whom are eligible for Medicaid benefits anyway. The reality of the uninsured and uninsurable not represented by Medicaid in the United  States is that this population generally consists of middle class families and children. In 1991, there were almost 36 million Americans without health care coverage (Birenbaum, 1993). Of  this number, a surprising 51.3 percent were employed people under the age of 65 (Birenbaum, 1993). Almost 28 percent of the uninsured individuals were children, and only 16.8 percent  were non-working adults (Birenbaum, 1993). These figures present a surprisingly different perspective on the uninsured. Many of the working adults in the United States can receive health care  benefits through their employer. But these benefits often cost employees, who can be required to pay a portion of the premium, and do not necessarily allow for coverage for