Forty Seven Million Americans

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2007-11-01 03:45pm

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of Americans lacking health insurance rose by nearly 8.6 million to 47 million from 2000 to 2006, with children and workers from every income level losing coverage, a new report said on Thursday.
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The increase was "driven primarily by the continued erosion in employer-provided health insurance," said the report by the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute.

In 2006, 2.3 million fewer Americans received health benefits from their employers than in 2000, the report said, noting the decline does not take the population increase into account.

Nearly 60 percent of the nation's children are covered by the insurance provided by their parents' employers, but 3.4 million fewer children had benefits in 2006 compared with 2000.

"Public health insurance is no longer offsetting these losses," said the report by the nonpartisan think-tank.

For jobholders, this was the sixth straight year of declines in health insurance coverage. The rate fell to just below 71 percent from nearly 75 percent in 2000.

"No category of workers was insulated from loss of coverage," as even workers whose earnings placed them in the top quintile saw coverage rates fall, the report said.

More men lost employer-provided health benefits than women. For men, the rate fell by almost 5 percentage points in the six-year period to 69 percent. For women, the rate fell just under 3 percentage points to nearly 73 percent.

Native Americans had the highest rates of insurance coverage from employers at almost 74 percent, though that was a drop of 3.5 percentage points. The rate for people born in other countries just topped 54 percent in 2006, 4.4 percentage points less than in 2000.

Whites had the highest rates of employer-provided health insurance, at 76.4 percent, though that was off 3.3 percentage points in the six-year period.

For blacks, the overall rate was nearly 66 percent, but off 2.6 percentage points from 2000. Hispanics had only a 48.4 percent rate of coverage, down 5 percentage points.

White-collar workers saw their coverage rates fall 3.5 percentage points to 61.4 percent. The drop for blue-collar workers was steeper, down 5.6 percentage points to 53.4 percent from 2000 to 2006.

The service sector's rate fell 5 percentage points -- and its employer-provided coverage rate was much lower at just under 29 percent.

Among the states, only Hawaii saw an increase in the percentage of its population under 65 years old who had employer-provided health insurance, up 0.5 percentage point to just over 71 percent in the survey period.

"The decline in employer coverage was pervasive and felt throughout the country," the report said.

Thirty-eight states saw "significant" drops in benefits provided by employers for people under 65, the report said. Utah, South Carolina, Maryland and Georgia all saw rates drop by at least 7 percentage points.

Meanwhile, in California "nearly all of the losses in employment-based coverage occurred among children," the report said, noting 600,000 fewer children had such benefits in 2006 compared with 2000.

Up nearly 8.6 million from 2000 to 2006. Slavery via disease by any other name...

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2007-11-01 03:57pm

Ein, haven't you heard? There's a large segment of these people who choose to have no healthcare. How can we force health care on people that don't want it? God, I want to vomit on the GOP scumbag that came up with that doozy of a talking point.

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2007-11-01 06:28pm

Choose to have no healthcare? Just like people choose to have no homes, a poor education, and an unlivable minimum wage?

Who the fuck seriously said that? It almost sounds like Colbert, for Chrissake.

Post by **Broomstick** » 2007-11-01 07:53pm

Hmmm... yes....

And since my position at work is being terminated, it may soon be 47,000,001

I have had two job interviews this week. I am really hoping it pans out before the termination is final, because even though we have several months worth of money to live on, there is no way in hell my husband and I can get private insurance, nor do I think I can afford the COBRA extension which, in any case, would be very temporary.

Repoman · Post by **Repoman** » 2007-11-01 08:34pm

Vets get VA healthcare. Serve your nation and you get healthcare. Sounds like a fair trade to me.

Individual Blue Cross plans are only about $70 a week (only 4 extra hours of work a week according to average US hourly wages).

If you are living so close to the edge of bankruptcy then you need to ask yourself which you value more - health insurance or that second car or boat or larger house etc.

Having said all that, I believe basic health insurance should be one of the services that the federal govt. should be able to provide for all of its citizens.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2007-11-01 08:35pm

Well, good luck to you Broomstick. When I lost my job in 2002 the COBRA was too expensive to use for long so I know how you feel.

My mom is one of those people without health care and no private insurer will ever sign her up since she has too many pre-existing conditions.

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2007-11-01 08:39pm

Yeah, good luck. I remember my mom basically went two months before getting a cataract fixed because she was between jobs (admittedly, it's not a major health condition, but it was unpleasant for her) and couldn't afford health insurance.

Post by **Broomstick** » 2007-11-02 06:21am

Repoman wrote:Vets get VA healthcare. Serve your nation and you get healthcare. Sounds like a fair trade to me.

Individual Blue Cross plans are only about $70 a week (only 4 extra hours of work a week according to average US hourly wages).

If you are living so close to the edge of bankruptcy then you need to ask yourself which you value more - health insurance or that second car or boat or larger house etc.

Having said all that, I believe basic health insurance should be one of the services that the federal govt. should be able to provide for all of its citizens.

Perhaps I have give you the wrong impression.

We are nowhere near the edge of bankruptcy. I do not own a boat. Yes, I have a second car but it has been paid off for a year now. In fact, we have no debt.

My husband and I both have pre-existing conditions. (Which is also the reason neither us would even qualify for VA care - neither of us could have passed a physical to join the military however much we might have desired to "serve our country") Blue Cross will NOT cover us at $70/week. The last time we looked at a policy for just the two of us we were quote a premium of $1,200 per month - and that was a number of years ago when health insurance was cheaper.

That's what too many people don't get - you don't have to be dirt poor, deep in debt, or a fiscal idiot to truly be in a position where you can not afford health insurance.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2007-11-02 07:19am

Broomstick wrote:Hmmm... yes....

And since my position at work is being terminated, it may soon be 47,000,001

I have had two job interviews this week. I am really hoping it pans out before the termination is final, because even though we have several months worth of money to live on, there is no way in hell my husband and I can get private insurance, nor do I think I can afford the COBRA extension which, in any case, would be very temporary.

No, you're just 47,000,000. My family got me insurance for my Birthday. Dental and Catastrophic. If I get sick I'm fucked, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding work and I can't afford it on my own. Trust me, I'd love to go to the doctor. I love doctors. They tell you what's wrong, how to fix it, and let you go. If I could get it, I'd take it. I just wish I could get an actual job that I'd gone to college for. It's not time to jump off a bridge yet, but it's getting close. And yes, Mr. President, that is a cry for help.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-11-02 10:15am

Damn this dirty Clintono-Stalinism and it's consequences! Only now 8 millions of United States citizens have been liberated from the yoke of accessible healthcare - which was injustly imposed on them via dreadful taxation of honest, hard-working Americans!

Freedom from Healthcare - remember, America must remain Free!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-11-02 10:29am

Stravo wrote:Ein, haven't you heard? There's a large segment of these people who choose to have no healthcare. How can we force health care on people that don't want it? God, I want to vomit on the GOP scumbag that came up with that doozy of a talking point.

I love it when they trot out people to serve as examples by proudly saying they don't want health-care. You can find proud examples for any stupid-shit idea, like Derek Kieper.

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2007-11-02 11:13am

Well obviousely anyone who is eligable for health insurance, but chooses to eat instead of paying exhorbinent premiums each month is just going to have to live with that choice and not try to leech off the system!

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2007-11-02 11:50am

Repoman wrote:Vets get VA healthcare. Serve your nation and you get healthcare. Sounds like a fair trade to me.

Unless, of course, the VA screws your out of your healthcare or puts so many conditions on it that it's unusable. That's been biting alot of returning veterans in the ass, that they come home from Iraq to find out that there is no way they are getting healthcare.

Hell, you should hear about my dad's stories about when he came home from the Navy during Vietnam about him and the VA.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-11-02 12:28pm

As long as there is some question about whether you are covered or not, there will be fear, uncertainty, and needless suffering. It is far simpler and more humane for everyone if there is no question whether you are covered: a situation which requires a universal health-care system and which removes all the red tape of determining whether you are covered.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-11-02 12:33pm

As far as I can tell, the bureaucratic chain goes like this:

Universal health-care:
1) Identify yourself.
2) Establish that you require treatment.
3) Establish that the treatment is covered and necessary.
4) Get treatment.

US health-care (optimum conditions):
1) Identify yourself.
2) Establish that you require treatment.
3) Establish that the treatment is covered and necessary.
4) Determine who will pay for the treatment.
5) Convince the insurance company to pay for the treatment.
6) Get treatment.

US health-care (sub-optimal conditions):
1) Identify yourself.
2) Establish that you require treatment.
3) Attempt to pay for the treatment yourself.
4) Sell home.
5) Drain savings.
6) Put self into bankruptcy.
7) Determine that the government can now finally pay for treatment.
8) Establish that the treatment is covered and necessary.
9) Get treatment.

Post by **Broomstick** » 2007-11-02 08:07pm

Darth Wong wrote:US health-care (optimum conditions):
1) Identify yourself.
2) Establish that you require treatment.
3) Establish that the treatment is covered and necessary.
4) Determine who will pay for the treatment.
5) Convince the insurance company to pay for the treatment.
6) Get treatment.

Not quite, but since you don't suffer under the system it's understandable you wouldn't have the exact sequence.

1) Identify yourself
2) Establish you have insurance
3) Establish you require treatment
4) Establish treatment is necessary
5) Establish insurance will cover it
6) Get treatment.

If #5 is "insurance will not cover it" then you drop to the sub-optimum menu you mentioned, where you have to sell everything you own and beg your neighbors for money, hold bake sales, etc.

And really I am not kidding about the order - last January when I needed to go to the hospital my doctor called the hospital from his office to let them know I was coming as an emergency admission. Once the triage nurse established I was not in immediate danger of sudden death she routed me to the insurance/billing clerk to get my insurance information, THEN I was sent to the ER proper.

The only reason Americans tolerate this is because this is the only system most of them have ever known and they don't know any better.

In any doctor's office you are asked to produce proof of insurance before you ever see the doctor, or even a nurse. In the ER, unless you are REALLY about to die (can't breathe, bleeding out from major arteries, etc.) you are asked to produce proof of insurance before being taken to where the docs and nurses are. If you can't prove you're covered then getting care is vastly more difficult. Many general practitioners/internists/family doctors will consider payment plans, many do take on charity cases, but they can only take on so many and still pay their bills. One reason doctors tolerate pharmaceutical reps is because of the free samples, which they can then pass on to people who can't afford the medicines they need. Having been both insured and uninsured I have seen both sides of this system. I have worked out payment plans and taken those free samples because there wasn't any alternative.

I am certain the Canadian or UK or any other health care delivery system has flaws, they are, after all, human endeavors designed and run by flawed human beings. But if you simply do NOT have access to care then it's hard to argue that those systems are so terrible or so inadequate. Lines? So what? - uninsured in America means you don't even get to get into the line. Rationing? What rationing is crueler than being denied care you need that you see others getting?

So why do I work in this industry? It's how I get health insurance for me and my family. I attempt to console myself with the notion that the company I work for is far from the worst in the business.

Oni Koneko Damien · Post by **Oni Koneko Damien** » 2007-11-02 08:33pm

I've been without health insurance for over a year now. I had relatively poor coverage (but it was still coverage of a sort) with the company I used to be at... until they downsized everyone with about a ten minute warning, re-hired a bunch of temps, got slammed for having illegal immigrant labour and moved everything overseas.

Since then, a number of part-time jobs, none that offered coverage above the "Piss-poor, but we'll still take out half your paycheck for it" levels.

I'm just thankful I've been making an effort over the past several years to stay as healthy as possible.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2007-11-02 08:37pm

Oni Koneko Damien wrote:I'm just thankful I've been making an effort over the past several years to stay as healthy as possible.

Best damn insurance you can't buy anyway (even if only for the good side effects), but still only a fucking stopgap, sweety.

We seriously need healthcare fixed and the Insurance MAFIA put down, permanently!