Middle-Class Health Crisis Gets Worse
The newest Census figures put a statistical face on the sickening truth about health care in America. Even as household incomes go up, some do the number of uninsured. The creeping crisis has moved beyond the poor into the middle class.
A record high 47 million Americans were priced out of health care, even as the poverty rate went down and median household income rose to $48,200 in 2006. Uninsured families earning more than $75,000 a year increased by 1.4 million.
As profits of HMOs, health insurers and drug companies soar, more and more employers are cutting down or eliminating coverage as a job benefit, leaving families to fend for themselves in a market of rising premiums and discrimination against the most vulnerable.
“Middle income Americans are now experiencing the human suffering that comes with being uninsured. It makes any illness a potential economic and social catastrophe,†says Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, of the Harvard Medical School, a co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program.
Yet politicians keep tinkering with the current system. Of all the Presidential candidates for ’08, Dennis Kucinich is the only one proposing a single-payer system to eliminate the one out of every three dollars spent on health care that goes to insurers’ overhead and profits.
But rumblings of revolt can be heard. In California,
a new statewide poll shows voters rejecting moderate health-care reforms proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislators and leaning, instead, toward a state-managed “single-payer” system.
But it will take much more public demand to overcome the largest lobbying expenditures in American history to keep the system as a cash cow for companies that profit from it.
Cross-posted from my blog
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15 Responses to “Middle-Class Health Crisis Gets Worse”
Robert,
Your “poll” link goes to a subscription sign-in for Mercury News, so I can’t read what it says.
However, if it is one of those typically superficial 1 or 2 question deals like ” Is it bad?” “Do you agree it should be changed?”……..it’s not going to contribute much to actually solving the problem…even if begets the “revolt”.
Those relatively rare polls that dig into choice limitations, wait times, and exactly how much how one is willing to have taxes increase at least begin to frame the what really has to be done.
On a different note, if DK has BOTH the war and national healthcare in his corner why doesn’t this man get more respect from the Dem base?
Few topics are as mind numbingly boring as US health care. And yet it’s a debate we desperately need to have.
Unfortunately, it’s also a debate subject to both demagoguery and misinformation. That a problem exists is to my mind undeniable. The proper solution however is as elusive as Sasquatch. I do feel that America is not ready for European styled socialized medicine. That public sentiment combined with the powerful lobbying ability of those industries affected make such a plan untenable.
I think the most realistic solution will have to involve the insurance industry, but in ways they may not care too much for. I’ll offer this quick scenario.
Shopping for health insurance can make one crazy. It’s simply impossible to compare apples to apples with all the legalese. Ever read a policy completely? I often wonder if anyone other than the authors have. How to solve the dilemma? Here’s one possible solution.
The federal government (the states really can’t accomplish this effectively) allows health insurance providers to apply for federal certification of policies. The government gives guidelines for say 10 or 20 policy scenarios. Various deductibles, coverage’s, etc. The policies should be fairly easy to explain to consumers and the government certifies that, upon approval, a policy meets the criteria of the government for the category the policy is submitted for. This would make shopping for health insurance as easy as shopping for term life insurance.
Finally, no citizen can be declined for coverage. Insurance is all about spreading risk. When companies are allowed to pick and choose among low risk policy holders that goes out the window. Basically, anyone can get the coverage, at the stated rate determined by the insurance company. This is a true market based system. Easily understandable.
Insurance companies are free to continue business as usual, but to be certified by the government they have to meet the criteria. If you want to purchase a non government certified policy you are free to do so. But you can always look over the various government certified policies, select the one you feel is right for you and your family, and then shop among certified companies for the best deal on that policy.
Basically utilize the market place, but do so in a way that promotes true fair market competition.
Davebo, you are aware that is exactly what Obama has proposed right?
I dislike the fact that insurance = health care. I do not have insurance. When I feel sick I go to the Doctor, costs me $50, and get checked out. If I had a serious health problem it would be difficult, but I have no great net worth to wipe out. I have never seen anyone I know be unable to get decent heath care so why does uninsured somehow mean crisis? I often wonder how many of the current problems were caused by to much insurance in the first place. When hospitals billed people instead of insurance companies could they charge for the same? Couldn’t middle class people afford to pay the costs? It’s like it’s a giant shell game with our money and there are now so many more people that get a cut. Govt agencies, insurance companies, Billing, ect. How can the cost not skyrocket? How will mandating extra expenses help lower cost?
mikkel
I am now. Which makes me support him even more than I did before. Thanks for the heads up.
Because health issues used to be the biggest cause of bankruptcy. And bandruptcy is no longer an option thanks to our craven politicians on both sides of the aisle.
I hope you stay healthy. Because one week of hospitalization will have you paying the bill most likely for the rest of your life.
Bones, if you have no great net worth to wipe out, then you will find that you cannot get care at all. Do you know how much surgery costs? Do you know how much full treatment for cancer costs? (prices vary wildly, from expensive to outrageous) Do you know how much a transplant costs?
If you don’t have a lot of money, and you get a serious illness, you will not be able to get treatment, period. You will be left to die for the crime of not being able to pay for treatment. I find it shocking and inhumane, and scandalous considering that while paying more Americans are still less healthy, but I guess I’m just a pinko European.
ps: I’m not implying that you are accusing anyone of being a commie, just adding a bit of snark.
Davebo, while you await the election of Obama, you could consult the blossoming cottage industry of healthcare broker/consultants. Usually, at no cost to you, they can quickly give you a line on who’s offering the best priced policies in your state. Not as rock-solid reliable as a federal government bureaucracy stamp of approval, but might give you some comfort. They are also pretty good at spotting which “association groups” you might qualify for in order to get a group rate even as a quasi-individual.
Bones……..gee, I would have thunk YOU were the doctor with that nic. Nonetheless, if you have a physician that sees you for $50, you do have it good. My guess is you are somewhere other than a major met area. I got clipped $137 just to get a Chantix prescription written. To add insult to injury, this “smoking cure” was not yet on the list of “covered medications”, so I am paying shelf price for the drug as well……..shoulda kept on smoking!
As to affordability, a healthy person below 50 can probably hook up decent coverage (no maternity and no dental though) for somewhere around $300/month with a moderate copay. Can someone making $75K a year float that?……obviously.
Casual, it’s interesting you mention that because I did exactly that in the recent past.
First, don’t be silly. No cost to you? Do you honestly believe these consultants just do this out of generosity? The last one I met with drove a BMW 7 series.
They also love, just love!!! to switch you to a new policy that will absolutely save you money every year? Why? Commissions on new policies are much more lucrative than renewals of existing policies. And since most are selling PPO’s you’re faced with changing GP’s every year.
It is, in essence, a scam. OK, maybe not a scam as they can provide value, but they aren’t representing you. They are representing the carriers they work with.
These brokers/consultants are what’s known as middle men. They can provide good information, but they don’t do it for free.
This is untrue. One out of three dollars (on the outside) goes to the insurance companies. Unless you have some way that 100% of the administrative costs could be saved (no, repeat, no OECD country has a zero cost of administration—France’s is something like 10-15%), only a portion of that could be saved.
Insurance reform (including going to a single-payer system) is not enough to solve our healthcare financing problem.
As I’ve said before when this topic comes up, we need to expand the supply of health care in this country dramatically. No other solution gets us where we need to go.
Davebo,
You state that no citizen can be declined for coverage. This is only technically true. In fact you can be in effect declined just by being priced out of the market. It happens all the time.
Linx that is just not true. I know people with both cancer and Aids and surprise! With no real money they still get treatment. It seems you have some misconceptions about health care in the US. People are not turned away without care. Be a shocked as you want. I’m shocked that you believe that tripe.
Then it’s a finacal crisis not health care because the care is just fine.
It would depend on the bill of course but depending on where I received treatment no I would not. I would fill out forms, stand in lines, take advantage of the bureaucracy, and in the end have a bill that would 30% – 50% less, or if my income is low enough it might be nothing at all.
Houston, which is pretty metropolitan. I will say we do have a booming medical industry in this town.
As to the $50, it’s not hard I just go to a little storefront strip mall doctor, you know the kind with the signs in multiple languages, and no problem. Heck the urgent care clinic at a downtown hospital (it’s to keep people out of the emergency room who don’t really have an emergency) only costs $75 and they cut a ton of scrips.
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