Individual Insurance: Health Insurers Try to Tap Potential Market Growth

Publication Date: November 2009

Publisher: Center for Studying Health System Change; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Author(s): Paul. Ginsburg; Genna. Cohen; Elizabeth. November; Brian. Quinn

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

The report, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and compiled by researchers from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), examines insurers’ strategies in 12 diverse communities tracked by HSC since 1996. According to the authors, the current strategies that insurers are pursuing are unlikely to meet the needs of less-than-healthy people who seek affordable, comprehensive coverage. The paper also explains that current health reform proposals, if enacted, would likely supersede insurers’ current strategies because they envision a sharply different regulatory environment for the individual market.

The report, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and compiled by researchers from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), examines insurers’ strategies in 12 diverse communities tracked by HSC since 1996. According to the authors, the current strategies that insurers are pursuing are unlikely to meet the needs of less-than-healthy people who seek affordable, comprehensive coverage. The paper also explains that current health reform proposals, if enacted, would likely supersede insurers’ current strategies because they envision a sharply different regulatory environment for the individual market.