A program that saved state money by reducing emergency room visits and hospital stays for home-bound Medicaid patients is another victim of the June state budget cuts.

An all out effort to get President Barack Obama's health care proposal through Congress by September is beginning, with the proposal facing tough challenges in both the Senate and House.

Missouri's junior Senator thinks it will be months, not weeks, before Congress passes a healthcare reform bill.

As lawmakers struggle to achieve the goal of universal coverage, a critical question is whether the plans will be affordable to those who are currently uninsured.

Lawmakers are considering options and costs for currently insured and uninsured Americans. Here are some key questions regarding the effort to overhaul the nation's health care system.

The Obama White House will seek to shore up support for its health-care overhaul this weekend by reaching out to millions of small-business owners and employees.

The latest news is available at
www.CoverMissouri.org

AInadequate insurance coverage leaves many without access to needed health care. A report from Community Catalyst explores the issue of underinsurance and how it can be addressed.

The underinsured are people who have insurance which does not fully cover their health care needs. There are numerous definitions of underinsurance, and estimates of how many are underinsured range from 5 percent to 53 percent. The Community Catalyst report explains underinsurance this way:

• Individuals are underinsured if they are insured all year and spent more than 10 percent of their income on out-of-pocket medical expenses ($6,600 in a year for a family of four earning 300 percent of the federal poverty level, FPL), or
  
  
• If they have insurance all year, an income below 200 percent of FPL, and spent more than 5 percent of their income on out-of-pocket medical expenses ($2,200 in medical expenses for a family of four in a one year), or
  
  
• If they had insurance all year and their deductible was more than 5 percent of their income ($3,300 for a family of four earning 300 percent of FPL).

Using this definition, 25 million people were underinsured in 2007, an increase of 60 percent since 2003. Underinsurance is associated with medical debt, which is a factor in half of all bankruptcies filed and an underlying cause of home foreclosures.

Learn more:

When Coverage Fails: Causes and Remedies for Inadequate Health Insurance

Defining Quality Coverage