Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

In the United States, the principal entry point for health care is through health insurance.

While nearly 65% of Americans have some sort of private health insurance, according to a September 2009 AARP report, “lost amid the rhetoric about health care reform” is the fact that tens of millions of people in this country are “insured but not really protected”; they are underinsured.

What is needed is adequate health insurance.

This presentation, delivered to the American Public Health Association's 2009 annual conference, discusses the need for state-level data to better understand the scope of "underinsurance" and ways policymakers can address the issue. The Kansas Health Institute has begun its own study of Kansans and their insurance coverage to better inform policymakers and others about the adequacy of health insurance plans.