Unlocking the Benefits of Insurance in the United State of America
1. Health Insurance
Health insurance coverage in the United States is highly valued by individuals and communities. It promotes access to care; supports positive health outcomes; relieves financial strain on families and communities; and reduces risk of unreimbursed medical expenses, bankruptcy, and debt collection.
Individuals obtain health insurance coverage through private means, such as the individual marketplace and employer-sponsored plans, and through public programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Coverage is often expensive, with monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs for health services.
However, significant numbers of individuals still lack health insurance coverage. Chapter 3 synthesizes available information to describe the likelihood of being uninsured, highlighting how the probability of being without coverage changes by selected characteristics, such as racial and ethnic identity, age, and place of residence.
2. Life Insurance
A life insurance policy pays your beneficiaries a tax-free lump sum when you die. It’s a common way to help pay for college tuition, buy a home, or other goals. Some policies also provide benefits that you can access during your lifetime, like a cash value component that grows over time through regular payments called premiums.
Insurers must innovate more deeply across products, customer engagement, and distribution and marketing. Too often, carriers’ product-development processes prioritize tweaking existing products and enhancing risk/return profiles. Such incremental improvements feel safer and may have long-term value, but they can hold back capacity for bolder innovations that could unlock new markets and value pools. This requires a shift in priorities, strategic partnerships, and fully tapped resources.
3. Long-Term Care Insurance
Long-term care insurance is designed to help pay for services that can range from a home health aide to a stay in an assisted living facility or nursing home. Most individuals who need this type of care require help with their daily activities, such as bathing and eating. Long term care coverage can also be found in the form of a separate policy or as an add-on to life insurance.
These plans typically provide a monthly benefit that can be used to cover care costs. Some policies may even include options like inflation protection – but these add-ons can drive up premiums. A good option for people who are preparing for retirement is to buy a traditional long term care policy while they’re young and healthy.
4. Disability Insurance
As with life insurance, disability coverage provides financial protection if an injury or illness prevents you from working in your occupation. The key feature of a disability policy is its definition of disability, which should be clear and understandable.
Group policies are more straightforward, but individual policies require a medical examination and a review of past health issues. Individual plans also differ in the length of coverage and in how benefits are paid. For example, some individual disability policies use a “own-occupation” definition of disability that pays benefits only if you can’t perform your job.
Other features may include a waiting period, coordination with Social Security, and benefits that cover mental and nervous disorders. Many insurance companies offer add-ons, called riders, which can increase premiums.
5. Retirement Income
Retirement income can be generated from many sources, including Social Security payments, pension plan distributions and investment account distributions. In addition, retirees can draw on personal savings and investments and earn additional money by engaging in work or hobbies — from blogging to life coaching.
The gap between earned income and expenses widens in retirement, and the need for supplemental retirement income becomes more evident. That’s why some retirement firms have focused on reducing fees and expanding benefit offerings, including debt paydown and supplemental lifetime income. These efforts have been supported by consolidation, which generates efficiencies and price competition.
