How can the availability of individual health insurance be a solution for the uninsured?
First of all, we must remember that all health insurance, whether group, employer-sponsored or individual, is expensive. The difference is that with individual health insurance, the purchaser has more choices. Each individual becomes a single consumer, shopping to obtain prices in an open insurance marketplace and purchasing what they need. Need is driven by a number of factors, including health status, tolerance for risk, age, sex, family status, lifestyle, disposable income and length of time required for coverage. That is the good news. The bad news is that negative factors can preclude the individual from purchasing the insurance coverage desired. Poor health dictates a low tolerance for risk. An unhealthy lifestyle has a direct effect on premium costs. Unemployment generally suggests a dilution of disposable income. It is possible that any combination of negative factors impacts the length of time an individual can retain the insurance. For 80 percent of our population, individual
