Blue Cross Blue Shield has been one of the best health insurance companies in the United States for the past seventy years. Overall in the United States there are 39 Blue Cross Blue Shield companies that have provided health insurance for millions of people. Recently that number has changed as the number of uninsured Americans has risen to an all-time high in the past few years with a record number of adults and children being uninsured. In fact, the number of uninsured Americans rose for the sixth time in six years in 2007, making the total number of uninsured adults in the United States around 46 million and the uninsured rate for children rose to over 8 million, which is up from the two previous years. Although the rate of uninsured adults is very high, the number of uninsured children is what we should be worried about. In the year 2004 a law was implemented called the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), under this program each state is given funding in order to to provide health insurance to families with children who otherwise would not have the money to pay for health insurance coverage by companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield. The program was intended to cover specifically the children in families who do have a disposable income to spend on health insurance, but that income may be so low that they may not be able to afford affordable health coverage from companies such as Medicaid. Since the program was implemented the number of uninsured children has decreased every year until 2004 when the funding for SCHIP was cut, which has greatly impacted the number of people being helped by SCHIP. Another reason why the rate of uninsured people has risen in the past few years is for the simple fact that many companies that at one point provided health insurance to their employees may not have the money to do so anymore. Employer-based coverage is disappearing at an alarming rate. For many of the families who are covered through a parent’s employer this may be the only way for them to receive insurance, there is a good chance these people may not be able to afford health insurance on their own. With this type of coverage disappearing, the number of children who are uninsured is now estimated around 8 million, compared to around only 7 million in 2006, this increase of uninsured children can be directly related to the lack of employer-based coverage and the tightening of funding from SCHIP. One of the companies that is trying to help out these families and children who are struggling to make ends meet during this difficult time is Blue Cross Blue Shield. Through Blue Cross Blue Shield many families can afford health insurance coverage though their variety of health insurance policies that can apply to any type of family ranging from one person looking to insure themselves, to a family with five kids that needs to find affordable health coverage.
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