Step 5: Improve Healthcare Access for All Americans
The reason that the United States is in crisis over healthcare is because over 7 million Americans, about one fifth of the population under age 65, currently do not have healthcare insurance. (see sources below). Only 57.8 percent of children were covered by private insurance in 2005, down from 64.9 percent in 1998, and that downward trend is continuing as fewer and fewer employers offer healthcare coverage to their workers.
I Have Good Healthcare. Why Should I Care?
We should all be concerned with these numbers. People without healthcare insurance tend to not get immunizations or other preventative healthcare and not seek treatment during the early stages of disease when they have a better chance of being cured and when costs for treating their illnesses are the lowest.
Contagious diseases
We as a country have been fortunate to have not experienced a serious, widely spread epidemic of a highly contagious disease in nearly 100 years. In 1918, the Spanish flu (a form of the H1N1 virus) killed about 15 percent of those who caught it, over 500,000 people in this country alone. Although the Swine flu (also a form of the H1N1 virus) has not proven as deadly so far, the clock is ticking. Another disease is bound to develop which could spread quickly throughout our schools and towns, tragically killing millions, and devastating our economy.
When you are in the grocery store, imagine that one out of five people who visited the store before you does not have health insurance. That person handled your cart, picked up that same piece of fruit to see if it was ripe, touched that moist milk carton you are now buying, and handed that dollar bill to the cashier that you are now getting in change. Guess what! You have now have been exposed to their germs. When you bring home your groceries, your family will also be exposed.
Wouldn’t you feel better knowing that everyone living in your community has had good preventive healthcare?
We all share the financial burden, anyway
It is estimated that 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies are due to an inability to pay medical bills. Of those who filed for bankruptcy, 80 percent had health insurance, but that insurance did not cover all of the costs.
When someone files for bankruptcy, it may seem that their troubles do not effect you. However, bankruptcy effects everyone. Credit card bills are not paid, so the credit card company raises everyone else’s interest rates and fees to make up the difference. Mortgages are not paid, banks fail, and the Federal government must use our taxpayer money to bail out the banks. We live in a circular interdependent economy. When one person cannot pay their debts, the rest of us end up paying their debts for them, one way or another. We might as well bite the bullet and pay for their healthcare now, before a major epidemic hits.
Employers must do their part
I believe the first step in providing healthcare to everyone is to require employers to pay at least a portion ($300 per month) toward each worker’s healthcare insurance policy. (see Step 1)
However, there will still be numerous people who will need healthcare coverage, perhaps because their premiums are too high to afford, because they have lost their job (perhaps due to illness), are dependents, students, or are self-employed.
Three ways to improve access to healthcare for all Americans:
There are several ways to provide health care for everyone. It is possible that one or all of these methods will have to be instituted to completely solve our healthcare crisis.
A. Institute a “public option,” which is essentially a government run health insurance plan. This is the favorite among many Democrats and is what has been proposed in President Obama’s plan. Health Insurance companies and Republicans are adamantly opposed to this option. (I will discuss this method today in another blog installment);
B. Regulate health insurance rates by instituting blind menu pricing where rates are based on services, not pre-existing conditions or risk factors;
and/or
C. Provide free clinics at the cost to the government, similar to the healthcare systems in Europe and Canada. Many Americans who currently have good healthcare are opposed to this idea because they feel it might delay and/or reduce the quality of care.
Statistical Sources
U.S. Census 2008 facts:
304,059,724 total population
38,919,645 population are under age 65.
Study from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey:
18.2 percent of the “noninstitutionalized” population under age 65 is not insured.
Based on these statistics, approximately 7,083,375 of Americans under 65 are without health insurance. (No figures were given on the number of people who are institutionalized.)
Study from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Children’s Health Insurance Status, 1996-2005
National Coalition on Health
Statistics on filing bankruptcy due to healthcare costs.
How I Would Fix Healthcare
Step 1 – Employers must provide a minimum $300 health insurance policy allowance for each and every worker.
Step 2 – Insurance agencies may not take more than $40 per policy for profit and administrative costs.
Step 3 – Protect Health Insurance Surplus Coffers
Step 4 – Preventative Healthcare Maintenance Schedule
Step 5 – Improve Healthcare Access
Step 1 – Employers must provide a minimum $300 health insurance policy allowance for each and every worker.
Step 2 – Insurance agencies may not take more than $40 per policy for profit and administrative costs.
Step 3 – Protect Health Insurance Surplus Coffers
Step 4 – Preventative Healthcare Maintenance Schedule
Step 5 – Improve Healthcare Access
A. Institute a “public option”;
B. Regulate rates with blind menu pricing; and/or
C. Provide free clinics and access to community health centers
Stay tuned for steps 6 and 7
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