title: On their own: a profile of the individually insured.
abstract: More than 13.6 million Americans under the age of 65 own a health insurance policy that they purchased directly from an insurance company or agent. Buyers tend to come from a "Golden Girls" cohort-- white, widowed or divorced, age 55-64, and working for a small company. High premiums have helped to reduce the number of individual policyholders. Insurers incur high administrative costs, have low loss ratios, and have suffered financial losses. As a result, the market is serving neither buyer nor seller well. One solution would establish competitive bidding at the state level limiting the franchise to sell individual insurance to three-to-five carriers; require bidders to include cost controls; and reduce agent commissions and other marketing costs by having states take an active role in informing the public.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Gabel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D003710:Demography; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States