Articles:

In 2000, The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 38.7 million Americans were uninsured. The question to ask here is: Why do 38 million Americans lack coverage? Who are they? Many may believe that only lower income people are uninsured or under-insured; however, there are shocking facts that may surprise you.

Almost one-third of the uninsured now live in households with annual incomes above $50,000.* The government currently subsidizes the affluent with tax deductions and the poor with federal programs such as Medicaid. However, under this system, there is a gap in health services for Americans working at moderate wages who do not have employer-sponsored health insurance.

From 1993 to 2000, the number of uninsured people in households with annual incomes above $75,000 increased by 63 percent.* Preferences and priorities govern an individual’s decision to buy health insurance. Many people complain about a lack of affordable coverage, while others just say health insurance is not a good value. Both reasons are just different ways of stating that they are unable to find insurance that fits both their financial and health benefit needs.

The number of uninsured people in households with annual incomes of $50,000 to $75,000 increased by 48.2 percent from 1993 to 2000.* During the past few years, it has been those households with moderate to affluent incomes that are increasingly uninsured. A particularly interesting portion of this segment are those under 35. They prefer to pay for doctors’ visits out-of-pocket, rather than hand over expensive premiums for services that they believe they may unlikely use.

What may look like a perplexing picture to many people is really an exciting opportunity for Agents who choose to market UA’s Underage Health plans. At United American, we are in a position to be part of a reasonable solution. Our Underage portfolio consists of a number of affordable, defined-benefit policies tailored to fit the preferences and priorities of many customers. We have a wide variety of specified coverage options for clients who have no health insurance due to cost or availability, and supplemental plans designed to bolster protection for those with existing coverage.

This issue of Vision is designed to help you focus your Underage marketing efforts. Pages 6-7 examine the marketplace and put into perspective how our plans are a solution for many Americans. Page 5 introduces new Underage tools developed to assist you in your prospecting and sales presentations. Page 8 features two products - SMXC and SSXC which are UA’s supplemental Surgical plans, and finally Page 9 presents Underage success stories and testimonials.

Agents’ writing opportunities have actually more than doubled since they began to see Underage prospects in addition to Seniors. Today the opportunity has never been better for an Agent to expand his or her marketing opportunities by the addition of Underage plans — for the millions of Underage prospects who have been priced out of the health insurance market, lost their employer-sponsored plan, or simply need additional supplemental coverage because of benefit cutbacks. United American has specialized in supplemental health insurance for over half a century, and we are well-equipped to continue servicing the needs of all Americans who desire affordable alternatives in the 21st century too. The Underage market is really taking off fast, so read, learn, focus, and get fired up about adding this developing opportunity to your Senior sales! UA’s "affordable alternatives" are plans of which many uninsured and under-served prospects may be simply unaware, so let’s get the word out: UA can help!

* Statistics from the National Center for Policy Analysis, Uninsured by Choice, 2002.