Do We Care?
Early in this political season we began to hear candidates discuss various health care plans designed to provide access to health insurance for most, if not all, Americans. Republicans offer private accounts where people can buy into a plan that hopefully suites their needs.
The Democrats prefer universal coverage provided by the government citing that everyone should have affordable health insurance coverage. If the plan were to follow a system similar to Medicare, the cost of administrative overhead would be less than administrative costs through private policies. Many people without coverage cannot manage the expense on their meager incomes. The only way that every citizen can afford health insurance is with some government involvement.
There are currently 47,000,000 people in this nation--- 9,000,000 of them children--- who are uninsured. The lack of coverage affects blacks and Hispanics most acutely (22% blacks, 36% Hispanics compared with 13% whites) who work at low paying jobs or for small businesses that cannot afford to offer coverage. These families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but do not earn enough to purchase their own policies.
A research study by Jack Hadley, health economist at the Urban Institute found the main reason that adults’ private insurance coverage has faded in recent years is due to the increasing cost of insurance premiums, making coverage less affordable for employers and employees alike. If companies do offer coverage, it no longer is the same generous package it was 20 years ago.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, premiums for employees increased an average of 6.1% last year. In 2007 the average annual policy for a family was more than $12,000 and a worker’s portion was an average of $3281.
Those Americans who have insurance and think that this does not concern them need to think again. Health insurance expenses for everyone are escalating steadily partly because the number of uninsured Americans is increasing.
Families USA, a non-profit organization that advocates for affordable health care for all Americans, analyzed data from the US Census Bureau, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Center for Health Statistics and determined that unpaid expenses for the uninsured added an average $922 in 2005 to the premiums for employer-provided family health insurance. The estimated cost by 2010 is more than $1000. Make no mistake; we currently are paying for insurance for the uninsured.
Many politicians in Congress believe the problem concerns only people who just want a free handout, and should be striving for better jobs. In reality, these are the people who are caregivers and they provide needed services. They minister to the elderly as home health aides, as day care workers, nurses aides; they cook meals and clear dishes in restaurants, work in retail stores, mow your lawns, and fix your roofs.
Statistics show that minorities who suffer from chronic illnesses often avoid getting treated because they lack insurance coverage. Older individuals and those with poor health may not only be unable to afford insurance but may be excluded entirely due to use of medical underwriting, meaning a failure to offer coverage to people who are sicker or likely to incur health care costs.
A recent cancer study showed that uninsured and Medicaid patients are more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage cancers, mainly due to their inability to afford prevention screening.
The bottom line of why some Americans do not want to have government sponsored health coverage for the 47 million uninsured Americans is that they do not want to pay taxes for those people who do not have coverage. They feel that they are taking care of themselves and everyone else should do likewise. They do not seem to understand that we are currently paying for coverage for the poor and uninsured and that providing coverage through the front door would be more cost effective than having the poor end up in the emergency rooms of local hospitals that are already strapped financially. Prevention is a better choice than treating diseases.
We, the people must act. How is it that the United States of America, the richest country in the world, does not provide health insurance and health care for all our citizens? We must demand that this situation change by electing a new Democratic administration. Each of us must spread the word by talking to friends and neighbors and asking them to support candidates who propose universal health care for all Americans.
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Norma Dayton
President