Talk about each of us being connected to one another! Take a look at the material recently released as a part of A Report from Families USA
(June 8, 2005) entitled, "Paying a Premium: The Added Cost of Care for the Uninsured."
What follows here are the "key findings" of the study.
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Health insurance premiums for families who have insurance through their private employers, on average, are $922 higher in 2005 due to the cost of health care for the uninsured that is not paid for by the uninsured themselves or by other sources of reimbursement.
In six states, health insurance premiums for families are at least $1,500 higher due to the unreimbursed cost of health care for the uninsured in 2005. These states are New Mexico ($1,875); West Virginia ($1,796); Oklahoma ($1,781); Montana ($1,578); Texas ($1,551); and Arkansas ($1,514).
Health insurance premiums for individuals who have insurance through their private employers, on average, are $341 higher in 2005 due to the unreimbursed cost of health care for the uninsured.
In eight states, health insurance premiums for individuals are at least $500 higher due to the unreimbursed cost of health care for the uninsured in 2005. These states are New Mexico ($726); Oklahoma ($680); West Virginia ($660); Montana ($594); Alaska ($565); Arkansas ($560); Idaho ($551); and Texas ($550).
Health Insurance Premiums in 2010
By 2010, health insurance premiums for families who have insurance through their private employers, on average, will be $1,502 higher in 2010 due to the unreimbursed cost of health care for the uninsured.
In 11 states, health insurance premiums for families will be at least $2,000 higher due to the unreimbursed cost of health care for the uninsured in 2010. These states are New Mexico ($3,169); West Virginia ($2,940); Oklahoma ($2,911); Texas ($2,786); Arkansas ($2,748); Alaska ($2,248); Florida ($2,248); Montana ($2,190); Idaho ($2,152); Washington ($2,144); and Arizona ($2,028).
Health insurance premiums for individuals who have insurance through their private employers, on average, will be $532 higher in 2010 due to the unreimbursed cost of health care for the uninsured.
In eight states, health insurance premiums for individuals will be at least $800 higher due to the unreimbursed cost of health care for the uninsured in 2010. These states are New Mexico ($1,192); Oklahoma ($1,127); West Virginia ($1,037); Arkansas ($943); Texas ($922); Alaska ($857); Idaho ($820); and Montana ($807) (Table 2).
Costs of Uncompensated Care
In 2005, the cost of health care provided to people without insurance that is not paid out-of-pocket by the uninsured themselves will exceed $43 billion nationally
In 11 states, the cost of care that the uninsured cannot pay will exceed $1 billion in 2005. These states are California ($5.8 billion); Texas ($4.6 billion); Florida ($2.9 billion); New York ($2.7 billion); Illinois ($1.8 billion); Ohio ($1.4 billion); Pennsylvania ($1.4 billion); North Carolina ($1.3 billion); Georgia ($1.3 billion); New Jersey ($1.2 billion); and Michigan ($1.1 billion).
By 2010, the cost of health care provided to people without health insurance that is not paid out-of-pocket by the uninsured will exceed $60 billion (Table 3).In 17 states, the cost of care that the uninsured cannot pay will exceed $1 billion in 2010. These states are California ($8.2 billion); Texas ($6.5 billion); Florida ($4.1 billion); New York ($3.8 billion); Illinois ($2.6 billion); Ohio ($2.0 billion); Pennsylvania ($2.0 billion); North Carolina ($1.9 billion); Georgia ($1.8 billion); New Jersey ($1.6 billion); Michigan ($1.6 billion); Virginia ($1.4 billion); Louisiana ($1.4 billion); Washington ($1.3 billion); Indiana ($1.3 billion); Arizona ($1.3 billion); and Tennessee ($1.2 billion).
Uninsured People
In 2005, nearly 48 million Americans will be uninsured for the entire year.
California is the state with the largest number of uninsured people in 2005 (7.8 million people are uninsured for the entire year), followed by Texas (4.8 million); New York (3.5 million); Florida (3.2 million); and Illinois (2.1 million).
New Mexico is the state with the highest percentage of uninsured people in 2005 (24.0 percent uninsured for the entire year), followed by California (21.6 percent); Texas (21.4 percent); Arizona (19.1 percent); and Florida (18.5 percent).
In 2010, the number of Americans who will be uninsured for the entire year will be nearly 53 million.
California is projected to have the largest number of uninsured people in 2010 (8.6 million uninsured for the entire year), followed by Texas (5.3 million); New York (3.9 million); Florida (3.6 million); and Illinois (2.3 million). New Mexico is projected to have the highest percentage of uninsured people in 2010 (25.3 percent were uninsured for the entire year), followed by California (22.6 percent); Texas (22.5 percent); Arizona (20.4 percent); and Florida (20.0 percent).
[Blogger note: You think we need some change? Possibly it is time for bold, smart, new leadership. We are all in this together. LJ]
It is time, indeed!
ReplyDeleteThis reveals the inherent flaw in a privatized health care system. Clearly, the insured are paying for the uninsured -- whether they like it or not. And as we've seen, these costs are now threatening to take down even institutions like GM.
Clearly, we all have a vested interest in changing the system.
Why, then, is there such incredible opposition to doing this same thing through taxes? If we could transition the money we are paying for private health insurance into a stream of taxes for universal health care, the system could work. Look at what the VA has done in their systems. They are among the highest rated in the country in terms of patient care, because they understand that the goal of health care is to prevent illness from occuring. More importantly, they invest in their infrastructure in ways that private companies can't due to the nature of the privatized system (in which the benefits for such actions would be spread across their competitors).
Furthermore, privatized systems require profit margins, and exhorbitant ones at that. This would not exist in a public system, providing more funds for treatment.
As mentioned in your previous blogs, the privatized health care system provides no incentive for preventative care. If there were universal health care, the government would have the incentive to promote prevention programs as a way of alleviating the costs of treatment programs. This would lead to better long-term care of patients, which would lead to a healthier, stronger community (and workforce).
Could this work?
Or would it create a public health industry that is like the public education industry? (in which the wealthy pay for both the public system and the private system to which they send their children) How could we keep it from becoming something like that?
Perhaps more importantly: how can we amass the support needed to counter the opponents? (i.e. private insurance companies that would disappear overnight, and probably others)
Wow great blog on health insurance. The information came very useful to me as I am researching prices on health coverage.
ReplyDelete