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The Costs of Health Care Are Burying American Families
Unpaid medical bills are piling up on kitchen tables all over America. In addition to the rising costs of food, gas and housing, more and more working families are becoming overwhelmed by skyrocketing health care costs. Since 2001, average premiums for family health insurance coverage have risen 78 percent and now stand at more than $12,000 annually, not including out-of-pocket costs which average an additional $3,000. The soaring cost of health coverage makes seeing a doctor and getting necessary care unaffordable and even impossible for millions of children and working families. One recent study found that half of all American families filing for bankruptcy cited medical causes.
More than 47 million in our nation are uninsured, including 9.4 million children. The majority of these children live in two-parent families, and almost 90 percent have a working parent, but they still cannot afford to cover their children. This is not right. The most recent Census data reveal that the number of uninsured children increased by more than one million in just two years alone, and that number could grow as the economy continues to weaken.
There are a number of myths circulating now suggesting that simple, private sector fixes can solve our health care problem. In fact, the private sector has not provided adequate solutions. Businesses are struggling financially to provide coverage for their workers. Since 2000, the percentage of employers providing health coverage has dropped from 69 to 60 percent. And as workers with private or employer-sponsored health coverage saw cost increases that far outpaced the rate of inflation and the growth in their wages, many also saw their benefits shrink. In most states, health insurers in the individual market can charge high premiums, exclude individuals with pre-existing conditions, offer skimpy benefits, or deny coverage altogether to children likely to incur high health care costs.
Providing health care tax credits so families can buy private health insurance, as some have suggested, is the wrong approach to covering uninsured children. The relatively small tax credit of between $2,500 and $5,000 that has been proposed will make health coverage affordable for only a few families when average annual health costs are close to $15,000. Regardless of the amount of the tax credit, some families cannot obtain health coverage at any price, particularly for sick or disabled children.
By contrast, government-supported health coverage programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) have substantially reduced the number of uninsured children in our nation. These successful programs must be expanded and simplified as part of a consolidated children's health program that guarantees every child in America the comprehensive health coverage they need to grow and thrive.
All children need access to primary health care, not just when they are sick, but throughout childhood to ensure their healthy growth and development. But frequently, uninsured parents must make the anguished decision to put off a doctor visit for a sick child hoping the child will get better without treatment. In too many cases, waiting causes an illness to worsen to the point where they must take their child to the emergency room for much more invasive and expensive treatment, while the chances of rapid recovery are reduced.
Providing health coverage to our children is one of the most cost-effective investments our nation can make. It costs about a third as much to extend health coverage to a child for a year as it does for an adult. Access to timely, quality health care for children can form the foundation for well-being for a lifetime and prevent costly chronic diseases or other health problems later on. For example, every $1 spent on immunizations for children saves $16 over the course of their lifetimes in medical costs.
A child is born uninsured in the United States every 41 seconds -- that's more than 2,100 children every day. Children simply can't wait while policymakers argue over the best way to get health coverage for everyone. When children have health coverage, the number of child hospitalizations for preventable illnesses drops, school attendance goes up and academic performance improves. Healthy children turn into healthy, educated adults who will make up America's work force tomorrow.
We must step forward now to ensure that there is a level playing field for all children in health care. Each step we take that improves the lives of children secures our nation's health not only tomorrow but today as well. We know how to make our children healthy, and we can afford it. We must step forward and marshal the will to make it happen.
Follow Marian Wright Edelman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ChildDefender
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There's a bill in congress now, the Conyer's bill, for single payer insurance that the California Nurse's association and others support, but I'm not sure what its status is. The website http://www.healthcare-now.org/ seems like the best organization with no conflict of interest supporting this bill, which is clearly what we need...
The pharmaceutical and insurance industries have spent somewhere near a billion dollars to elect and lobby congress, under the assumption that they will get much more than that amount back from the public and debt-based government programs.
Both McCain's and Obama's plans are pie-in-the-sky because there's not enough money or congressional will to pull them off. While Obama's is much better, it still compromises what's best for people with what's possible for a government in the shadow of corporate power.
In other words, its up to the public to pressure congress to trade some of the earmarks, tax shelters, submarines and battleships for good health insurance. Its too bad that AARP sold out, since their organization, DividedWeFail.org looks grass roots, is advertised on TV, and will fool health care activists. It is a generic, feel-good platform that doesn't address eliminating health profiteers (since AARP is one of them) and will siphon off progressive energy and become another bad compromise.
Another plea for the children. Maybe if we get down on our knees before the bloated capitalist murderers and beg them, at least they will spare our children. Please please kind sir, take my life but spare this little girl. Are we all cowards? We must put away our differences and unite to take back this country for the people. We will have universal, single payer health care, (care - not insurance) and we will destroy anyone who gets in or way.
"Each step we take that improves the lives of children secures our nation's health not only tomorrow but today as well."
MOST "right-to-life" republicans are AGAINST Universal Health Care. They work themselves up into a FRENZY about “saving lives” from the moment of CONCEPTION…but NOT from the moment of BIRTH!
"We know how to make our children healthy, and WE CAN AFFORD IT. We must step forward and marshal the will to make it happen."
Where there's a WILL ... there's a WAY!!!
OBAMA '08!
HOPE & CHANGE!
Stay safe, healthy and happy,
Love, Loretta
Another burdensome cost resulting from our national healthcare disgrace is auto insurance.
Few people are aware of how undercovered they are EVEN IF THEY ARE PAYING HIGH PREMIUMS.
As anyone who has had a few accidents knows, or a few Mickey Mouse tickets, in which no one is even injured, your insurance can escalate unless you maintain minimal medical coverage. Which in turn can make you liable in any accident which is legally your fault.
Besides this, almost everyone is drastically undercovered anyway by their auto insurance because of the huge medical liability the insurance companies bear. Few know the extent to this lack of coverage.
With national health insurance however this situation wouldn't exist and the cost of auto insurance would be halved.
You are so right. there is not enough or almost no oversight of the insurance industry at all. If we have mandated insurance the government has a duty to regulate otherwise we are at the mercy of the industry. Homeowner policies are the same.
I work in a mail-order pharmacy call center. I won't say which one, but you've heard of us. Today I had to explain to a weeping 80-year old woman that her insulin will cost more money than she has in this world because her Medicare D "donut hole" has opened up.
Insulin. F***ing INSULIN. This woman is going to DIE because of corporate bean-counting. They should be charged with MURDER.
OMFG.
Can anything be done here? Legally?
Unfortunately, no. The drug companies created both the lack of negotiation AND the "donut hole" where someone who NEEDS their medicine but has gotten too much has to pay 100% out of pocket..... Then after a while it goes back up, and they are able to get coverage again, for a while.....
"This woman is going to DIE because of corporate bean-counting. They should be charged with MURDER."
Healthcare Insurance Company employees are CASHING IN on people's DEATHS, by finding "pre-existing conditions" to justify DENYING their claims. How can these MURDERERS FOR HIRE live with themselves? Do they (like our fearless leader) sleep well at night? SHAME ON THEM!!!
"Right-to-life" is not about MORALITY. It's about MONEY!
Stay safe, healthy and happy,
Love, Loretta
I never thought I'd be advocating this, but Wal-Mart (unlike our government) negotiates with drug companies. They offer insulin for ~ $20/vial, and a lot of other generic meds for diabetics for $4/prescription. I know at work you probably can't recommend to a customer to go off their prescription plan and pay cash, but I'm throwing it out there.
It's a disgrace when large corporations can work with manufacturers to get the cheapest prices, and our own government throws away money hand over fist and can't even provide life-saving medication to those who need it.
It is about priorities.
Americas' military Industrial complex does not value or prioritize American children other than those who will murder the children of other parents in other lands from VietNam to Iraq for their purposes.
All that is necessary to be aware of such is to view the government contracts for war materiel and to which industries and who buys all of such material and where it is used so there will be need to buy more.
The tax slaves of America of course pay for all of such though they for the most part are over the barrel as the government will take all from those who do not pay and then they would join the homeless living on the streets of America.
A huge human tragedy though not without solutions.
Stop war and all war related activity and the production of all materiel designed for the murder of your fellow human beings and establish problem solving courses throughout the land.
Then the primitive solutions would no longer be necessary and far less expensive.
Rolf Krogsæther
It's time to cut the free medical benefits our "representatives" enjoy at the public's expense.
These "representatives" are a group of people who are vastly more wealthy than over 90% of their constituents.
They don't need socialized medicine, especially if low and middle income Americans don't need socialized medicine.
They can pay for their own insurance and deductibles like the rest of us who are lucky enough to afford it.
Heck, I bet most of them are already on the insurance and medical lobbyists speed dial. They'll get special pricing because anyhow.
The answer is not depriving anyone of health care, but extending that care to EVERYONE.
It may mean that the bloated insurance companies may have their role scaled back from profit centers to administrative offices.
That is where the cutting will do some good.
Excellent.
Yes, cut at the bloat.
What are you, some kind of sick socialist??? The kind of person who wants us all to be healthy!?!?!? That's not allowed, and you know that!!!
The entire system needs an overhaul.:
Including huge medical centers that shuttle cancer patients off to other hospitals, because all they have are hospital suites for the very wealthy who pay cash. My brother died from a glio blastoma a year ago (he had 100% coverage.) I can't tell you how many times he was shuttled from world famous An schutz C ancer C enter in D enver 20 miles away to another hospital, because they "didn't have room for him." OH, they had rooms, just not for him. They had room for some socialite getting breast augmentation, but for someone suffering from cancer he had to wait hours to be put in the van, driven across town, in severe pain and naseau and wait until he could be admitted. He often did not see a doctor until the next day.
I cannot even get started on the poor patient care he got at the C enter, from highly paid oncologysts and radiologists. It is horrific. They should work for S weeney T odd with their attitude.
Below, MichaelL made a good point about the trial lawyers that prey on doctors and hospitals. His analysis is 100% correct. Another point left out of the article is the impact illegal aliens are having on the health care system. I don't know if the 47 million unisured quoted in the article includes the illegals, but very rarely do they pay any of their hospital expenses.
The OBGYN section of the hospital in Decatur, AL closed two weeks ago and moved to Huntsville. Why? They went broke treating illegals.
Both of these issues have to be taken care of if we truly want more affordable health care.
Yesterday - Mammogram co-pay $30.00 Gynecologist co-pay $30.00. 30 day supply of necessary drug $87.50. I'm broke now until payday. God forbid if we didn't have insurance. Basically, we would just have to die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No, you wouldn't be able to afford to die!! Not without insurance!
Why can't I as an individual be able to consider as free of income tax my individual health care insurance premiums, yet when paid via a employer they are not income taxable. I think individual health insurance should be state and federal income tax free and above the standard deductions. In my case I would save me $900 a year - or almost 2 monthly payments. At least it would be the fairest thing that could be done in the short term until a real health care program is established. Also, all out of pocket health care costs above a set amount should be deductable without itemization and over the standard decuctions too.
They fool the American people with that 25% of the healthcare dolars going to HMO'S.
What they don't talk about is the Hospital Adminstrations and their large staffs. These people pull down between $200,000.00 and $1.4 million just to run the hospials they way they are setup now.
How many $Millions of health care dollars across the country are spent paying salarys when 1 group can manage all the hospitals in an area.
48% of the Health care dollars going to those who provide NO health care.
To those afraid of National Health Care:
Imagine the doctors and nurses being paid more so they don't feel like they are working for nothing!
How much better would you and all your fellow citizens when a pateint be treated?
If we cut out all this dead wood remove those who are draining the health care dollars with high salarys and benifits but provide no direct health care we can save Billions.
Imagine 1 person and a staff managing 5 or 6 so they all have the same equipment. No more competition for who has what and can do what. Each hospital will be there to only treat the ill not extract all the money they can from their fellow citizens anyway they can.
NO MORE OF THAT!
The health care dollars need to go to those providing the care not the PAPER PUSHERS.
Maybe the author will provide the answer next time she contributes an article. Specifically, she needs to have her network of professionals gather accurate information on the cost, today, were we to have a single payer system. It's revealing that we're spending over $12,000 per family per year for insurance. I doubt a single payer system would come close to costing that much.
The next closest in the world is Canada where the cost is about $3600 a year. And for that they get universal care and shorter wait times that America in ER's [according to the new england journal of medicine].
You didn;t mention the insurance companies themselves-- they invest ZERO, but take in the money, shuffle the papers, pay their CEOs multimillions in salary, more millions in stocks. They pay Drs (as middlemen)to review medical recommendations of their subscribers Drs. -- to determine if the treatment is necessary. They, who have never laid eyes on the patient.
An outrage.
This is what those Hillary supporters who say they will vote for McCain will be voting for and in doing so they will be refuting the policies Hillary proposed:
Factcheck has a good analyses of McCain’s plan and points out how he is misleading people with his claims of what his plan will do.
McCain's $5,000 Promise - His new ad only tells half the story of what his health proposal could mean for U.S. workers.
From the Summary:
McCain says in a new TV ad: "Let's give every American family a $5,000 refundable tax credit" to buy health insurance.
Sounds good. But McCain failed to mention how existing employer-sponsored health benefits would be affected.
Workers would be taxed on the value of any employer-paid health benefits, partially offsetting the $5,000 credit for those now covered by such plans.
Experts say a tax credit plan like this would likely cause companies to reduce or eliminate health benefits for their employees.
The aim of the McCain plan is to reduce health care costs through increased competition, by encouraging individuals to shop around for health insurance and medical care. There are many who favor such an approach, and we take no position on it one way or the other. But McCain's simplistic ad misleads viewers by promising to give "every American family" a $5,000 benefit while failing to mention what he would also take away.
It's not the cost of health care that's breaking the bank: excellent healthcare is perfectly affordable, as Canada proves. What's unsustainable is the cost of the health insurance industry infrastructure, which inflates the cost of medical care by an additional 50%. The extra cost is all waste, providing no medical value at all.
"The extra cost is all waste, providing no medical value at all."
AND making the primary determinant of providing health care the profit OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES. Whose overriding motive is to DENY health care to people in order to make more profit.
I don't care what any of you myopic philosophy-over-reality conservatives say or how many "dirty" words like socialist or communist you spew, I have yet to have anyone explain to me logically and rationally how a system like that (a health INSURANCE-based system whose overriding motive is to DENY health care to people in order to make more profit) makes any effing sense.
There. You've said it all!!
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