Healthcare and the Uninsured

I am one of so many Americans who are dealing with the healthcare issue, including putting off doctor visits and needed care, astronomical hospital bills, and many other related issues. Having no healthcare or not enough healthcare coverage is a terrible position for anyone to find them self in, especially in an emergency. During my search for another healthcare plan, which would provide more coverage for me than the AARP Medical Advantage Plan I am now enrolled in, I read a few interesting articles. An article titled "Sick Economy Has Patients Skimping" written by Associated Press Writers L. Tanner and L. A. Johnson, published on WTOPnews.com caught my attention, as the article relates to the situation I now find myself in. It provides information on how the tighter household budgets get more Americans will go without medical care, which puts their health at risk. L. Tanner and L. A. Johnson write "The ailing economy is leading many Americans to skip doctor visits, skimp on their medicine and put off mammograms, pap smears and other tests. And physicians worry the result will be sicker patients who need costlier treatment in the long run." Author L.P. Weston writes "The more than 46 million Americans without coverage will get sick more, earn less and die earlier than those with insurance."

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation October telephone poll released recently, more and more are postponing needed care. 36% said they or a family member have put off needed care, up from 29% in April. Recommended tests or treatments were skipped by approximately one-third, up from 24%. In both cases, as a result approximately one-fifth said their condition got worse. The American Hospital Association states hospitals are reporting an increase in emergency-room patients. According to Dick Clarke, the president of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, this includes a rise in uninsured patients with conditions which could be treated elsewhere and he expects an increase. Many newly jobless people are losing their health insurance due to the U.S. unemployment rate climbing from 4.7 to 6.1% over the past year.

An article written by L. P. Weston titled "A Survival Guide for the Uninsured" was also interesting reading. The article refers to a Kaiser Report which states without health insurance people are receiving less preventive care and less likely to have major diseases detected early. Premature deaths of the uninsured are more likely than the insured. Studies show the uninsured mortality rate is between 1.2 to 1.6 times the rates for the insured. Infants uninsured have odds of dying 1.5 times higher than infants with private insurance. Depressed workers' average lifetime earnings is due to poor health with being uninsured. Better health would boost earnings by 10% to 30% according to the Kaiser Commission's estimates. Weston's article also states the ranks of the uninsured have grown by nearly 18% just since 2000, according to a study updated in 2006 by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. More than 46 million people under 65 lack insurance, and millions more are considered underinsured, with gaps in their coverage that leave them exposed to catastrophic medical bills. In fact, medical bills are a factor in about half of all consumer bankruptcies filed, according to a Harvard University study. This article also provides information on how to pick an insurance plan you can afford, a survival guide for the uninsured, how to save by buying off-brand and store-brand over-the-counter medications instead of brand-name medicines, how to save on prescriptions, how to save thousands on medical bills, and many other interesting and informative topics regarding healthcare.

I encourage the reading of these articles or similar articles pertaining to this topic, if you are searching for answers to questions you may have pertaining to healthcare or the lack thereof.