Introduction
Social insurance can be described as a program that is sponsored by governmental organizations where people transfer their risks. Social insurance is characterized by the benefits it provides to those who have been covered by its programs where their risks are put together and then compensated when need arises. A number of programs in U.S have been found to meet the definitions of social insurance among them being Medicare, railroad retirement, unemployment insurance and social security. (Benjamin 25)
Partial Disability and Reasons Why It’s Not Treated as a Part of Disability Income Security Policy
Partial disability is the condition where someone becomes unable to perform some of the duties that he would perform comfortably before suffering from sickness or being injured. This means that the individual is disabled since he cannot be as productive as before but at the same time, he has not been rendered totally helpless or disabled. Partial disability is also described in terms of the period in which disability persists. When disability persists for a period exceeding twelve months, then it is no longer referred to as partial disability. Partial disability is therefore not included in the policy of income security that covers those who are totally disabled. This is because of the difference existing between the two types of disabilities since a partially disabled person can perform various duties from which he can generate income unlike the individual who is totally disabled. This difference renders the partially disabled individual from being eligible for benefits of the policy of income security designed to cover the disabled. (Benjamin 26)
Integration of Functions of the System of Health Care In Social Insurance And How the Current Health Insurance Programs Cover the Old, the Working and the Young
The system of health care carries out a number of functions which include delivery of health care, where different problems related to health are catered for. It also caters for some financial expenses for those individuals who do not have coverage for their health care in the various programs of social insurance. However, the system of health care has not been able to comfortably provide these services to people due to financial constraints, which calls for the need to have them integrated in social insurance which would be in a better position to provide them to the needy population. Programs of health insurance have been found to treat the various categories in the society differently while covering their health related risks. That is, the old are treated differently from the working class as well as young thereby having a varying coverage of health insurance. The variation is mostly caused by enrollment rules that are put forward by programs that provide coverage for health care. The available enrollment rules have been found to affect a large population of Americans including the children.
It has been estimated that, about forty five million of the people leaving in America do not have coverage for health insurance. The category that is highly represented in this group of the uninsured is the working population basically due to lack of coverage for health insurance by their employers and also due to the amount of money they earn. Some Americans in the working population earn more money than is required in order to be covered by programs of health insurance but at the same time, they earn a lesser amount to get covered by plans of health insurance that covers individuals.
Children have a higher coverage of health insurance than adults since some states in America, like California, provide coverage of health insurance to children thereby increasing their number in the population that is covered. The higher number of children who are insured is also caused by the situation where some children qualify for insurance coverage under the eligibility of their parents in those programs that provide coverage for the entire family’s health condition. Coverage for the old population is slightly lower than that of children but higher than that of working population. The old population is more likely to get themselves covered by programs of health insurance more than the working population because of their higher vulnerability to diseases and other health related problems that come with old age. However, their vulnerability results to increased premiums for their coverage in plans of health insurance that are designed to cover individuals. (Kathleen 56)
Possible Reasons to the Decline of Unemployment Insurance Coverage
Unemployment insurance is one of the various programs of insurance coverage provided in social insurance. Current studies have found that, the number of Americans covered by programs of unemployment insurance has decreased from eighty percent to about thirty eight percent. This decrease has been because; part of the unemployed population has failed to contribute to unemployment insurance because; their occupation does not qualify for unemployment insurance, for example, those who have employed themselves. The other reason is the situation where some Americans leave their occupations due reasons that have not been included in the criteria that holds them legible for coverage of unemployment insurance, for example, those leaving their jobs voluntarily. (Kathleen 57-59)
Major Impacts Of Women’s Earnings On Family Economic Security And How Female Labor Supply Influence The Adequacy And Coverage Of Current Unemployment Insurance System
It has been found that, the number of women in labor force have greatly increased since 1930s. This has had a positive impact on the economic security of families as women’s earnings increase family’s security economically. It is evident that, women play a major role in taking care of children as well as other members the family when compared to men. Therefore, when women are employed, the money they get is most likely to benefit their families by getting better standards of living. Despite the increased rate of women in labor, it has been found that, they earn a considerably less amount than men. This situation of having lower earnings have caused a greater representation of women in unemployment programs which is also contributed by their higher life expectancy. However, there are a few areas that need to be revisited in the changes that have been proposed concerning ways in which benefits should be distributed between couples. Proposals to those changes affect women since their benefit are expected to be reduced by a larger amount than the reduction in men’s benefits. This area should be revisited in order to correct the situation in favor of women considering their roles in family setups. (Benjamin 27)
Interaction and the Situation of Boundaries among Retirement, Disability and Unemployment in the Social Insurance Systems
The programs that comprise the system of social insurance are disability programs, unemployment programs as well as retirement programs. There is a certain level of correlation among these types of programs which makes boundaries between them unclear. This is primarily because of the fact that one situation leads to the other. A disabled person is most likely to loose his job which makes him consider getting covered by unemployment insurance. Retirement programs are also related to both disability and unemployment programs since a large number of employees are covered by retirement insurance. An employee suffering from a certain disability may decide to get an early retirement due to inability to work thereby benefiting from both unemployment as well as retirement programs. (Kathleen 60-61)
Conceptual Problems about Income Security for Children and Ideas of Their Coverage in the Program
There have occurred controversies about ways in which children should be covered by programs of income security. Ideas explaining distribution of coverage of children in income security include the situation where children are normally covered under their parents’ employment benefits. This only caters for those children whose parents are employed and are covered by the program of income security. Secondly, SCHIP program has been designed to cover children from families with low incomes. SCHIP does not provide coverage for children whose parents are eligible for state benefits accorded to employees through income security. The third one is where SCHIP which is a program covering children’s health does not have a provision for children whose parents benefit from income security but may be in need of services provided by SCHIP. This has raised much concern requiring changes to be made to rules of SCHIP program. (Benjamin 28-29)
Description and the Reasons to Favor an Expense-Based Rather Than an Income-Based Subsidy
Due to continued rise in standards of living, the government has been intervening by subsidizing consumption of necessities which it carries out through subsidies that are income based and those that are expense based. Subsidies that are expense based are preferred than those that are income based since the later are normally provided through tax credits which primarily depends on ones level of income. However, subsidies that are expense based are provided in terms of needs and they cut on the amount that should be paid for the subsidized needs like housing. This one caters for all citizens equally unlike a subsidy that is based on income which is irregularly accorded to citizens. (Kathleen 62)
Conclusion
It is therefore evident that social insurance has a very important role in the society, which is depicted in the roles it plays in the provision of benefits upon insurance coverage. The diversified programs of social insurance have allowed almost everyone in the society to get covered. Among the available programs include, disability programs, unemployment programs, retirement programs and income security. These programs have been found to benefit those who are already covered as they come to their rescue when need arises. (Benjamin 30)
References
Benjamin I. Dealing with Poverty and Inequality: University of Chicago Press, 2002 pp25-30.
Kathleen B. Social Insurance in a diverse America: Brookings Institution Press, 2004 pp56-62.