Health Insurance report grades each state

The Council for Affordable Health Insurance`s latest report, "State Health Insurance Index 2006: A 50-State Comparison of the Nation`s Health Insurance Market," provides a snapshot of the health insurance environment in each state. According to the Index, surveys of the uninsured consistently show that the cost of health insurance is the primary reason for their being uninsured. Thus, the most efficient way to reduce the number of uninsured Americans is to ensure that people have access to a wide range of affordable health insurance polices. Some states largely achieve that goal, some don`t. The Index identifies those states that are doing the best and worst jobs of ensuring access to affordable coverage. The Index looks at six measures of state health insurance viability, including the regulatory environment, the number of health insurance mandates, the uninsured, access to a high risk pool and the average premiums in the individual and small group markets. The six measures result in a total of 100 possible points; states receiving 65 points or more generally have well-functioning health insurance markets. States receiving between 45 and 65 points may be functioning, but are in need of improvement. Those states receiving 40 points or less are generally dysfunctional; people there have few health insurance options and what options they do have are often expensive. (Copyright 2006 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)