Number of uninsured growing, creeping in to higher income brackets
Published June 11, 2008 by CSBJ Staff
The number of underinsured Americans has increased 60 percent since 2003 and health care premiums have skyrocketed 91 percent since 2000, says New York-based health research foundation The Commonwealth Fund.
The results of its most recent analysis were published this week in the Health Affairs journal.
Last year, 17.2 million Americans said that their out-of-pocket medical expenses represented at least 10 percent of their family annual income, compared to 8.9 million during 2003.
The study noted that adults with annual incomes below $20,000 were at the highest risk of being uninsured or underinsured,
But people in higher wealth brackets have also been affected: 22 million people with income between $40,000 and $99,999 said they had insufficient coverage, compared to 9 million during 2003.
Meanwhile, 7 million people who make more than $100,000 said they were uninsured during 2007, up from 1 million during 2003.
Filed under CSBJ Daily, Health Care, Insurance
The question is: When will the American public and our government leaders start to realize the social and economic impact this is having on our nation? Jobs keep going to other countries, some who do not have the burden of health care placed on their businesses, and Americans are less able to afford health care, their homes, gas and the decision between medication or food has been present for some time. We boast the best and most technologically advanced health care in the world-but what good is it if few,if any, can afford it?
Our nation has unfortunately been mislead in to thinking we are being taken care of by our medical system. Our kids are on Ritalin by age 10 and a good amount of people will be on Zanax or some antidepressant by age 40. We are over drugged and under nutritioned by foods that are over processed and are raised in soil that has been leached of its nutrients by all the chemicals used to keep things “safe and clean”. Most of the problems we have today people should go see a nutritionist or chiropractor before ever stepping foot into a physicians office. But many would rather take a pill than change their diet. In short, we’ve taken God out of our lives and nutrition out of our diets and then wonder why it costs so much to keep Americans happy and healthy. So our costs continue to spiral out of control. Remember, your doctor is a sales person just like any other self employed person, some obviously more ethical than others. The more visits…the more money. That being said, I run a medical travel business and you would be astounded at how much you can save even after air fare and expenses by traveling to another country for your operations. Try heart bypass in India for $15,000 vs. the cost of $130,000+ in the US and you can see why traveling abroad for operations has grown so much in the last few years. If you need any services feel free to contact me at doctravel@live.com