U.S. ‘underinsured’ up 60% in 4 years, report says

BETHESDA, Md. – A study released last week by the Commonwealth Fund shows the number of “underinsured” American adults – people who are insured year-round, but who also have very high medical expenses relative to their incomes – rose by 60 percent between 2003 and 2007, from 16 million to more than 25 million.
The study was published on the journal Health Affairs’ Web site, www.healthaffairs.org.
The authors used 2007 national survey data to estimate the number of underinsured adults, updating a 2003 study. They found 25.2 million insured adults ages 19-64 were underinsured, and 75 million, or 42 percent of people in that age bracket, were either uninsured or underinsured during the year in 2007. •