Health coverage keeps people healthy and strengthens our economy.
At Kaiser Permanente, we support expanding health coverage, so that everyone has it. Unfortunately, millions of people are at risk of losing their coverage.
Potential Medicaid cuts could take away care from people with low incomes and people with disabilities. Enhanced premium tax credits that help people afford health coverage will expire after 2025.
Recently, policymakers have started to question whether health coverage improves health. We know for a fact that it does.
So, let’s take a look at how health insurance works — and why it’s so important that everyone has access to it.
How health insurance works
Health insurance spreads medical costs across a large group of people. Since health care can be expensive and is often unpredictable, health coverage protects individuals and families from financial ruin. By also covering healthy people when they need less care, health insurance makes care more affordable and accessible for everyone. This economic security benefits society as a whole.
Health insurance in the United States is a mix of public and private coverage. People can get health insurance:
- Through their jobs
- Through government programs like Medicare and Medicaid
- By buying individual policies through government-run health benefit exchanges
Covered care often includes regular checkups, preventive screenings, emergency treatment, prescriptions, and hospital visits.
Many people, especially those with private insurance, pay into a shared fund that covers the costs of their care.
