Healthcare in America — The Next Conversation Part 3C – Private Insurance: The System Most Working Americans Use – Video

Part 3C – Private Insurance: The System Most Working Americans Use

If you’re of working age, earning too much to qualify for Medicaid, and not yet old enough for Medicare, chances are this is the healthcare system you live in.

Unlike Medicaid and Medicare, private health insurance is not run by the government. It is offered by private insurance companies, although the government establishes many of the rules they must follow. For most Americans, there are really only two ways to get it.

Door Number One: Your Employer

This is how most working Americans receive health insurance.

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The Bottom Line

Private insurance is the foundation of healthcare coverage for most working Americans.

Unlike Medicaid, eligibility is not based primarily on income.

Unlike Medicare, eligibility is not based on age.

Instead, coverage depends largely on employment, individual purchasing decisions, and the ability to afford premiums, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs.

For many Americans, private insurance works well.

For others, it can be expensive, confusing, or difficult to maintain when life changes.

Like Medicaid and Medicare, it solves some problems while creating others.

Understanding how private insurance works completes the picture of America’s three major healthcare systems—and helps explain why healthcare reform is rarely as simple as a campaign slogan suggests.

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