Nofsdad
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 7090
Location: Central CA
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:50 pm Post subject: Percentage of Uninsured Americans Rising
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From an AP wire story published by my ISP's news section.
[url=http://apnews.myway.com//article/20060426/D8H7GJSO0.html[/url]
This kind of ties in with Kanaka's thread on the AIDS crisis in Thailand and the actions being taken by our government who still refuse to admit that the same philosophies are affecting the quality of life right here at home.
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| NEW YORK (AP) - The percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41 percent in 2005, a dramatic increase from the 28 percent in 2001 without coverage, a study released on Wednesday found. |
Any bets as to how much of this increase is attributable to the rising costs of said insurance and how much of that is attributable to profit taking in the health care industry?
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| Moreover, more than half of the uninsured adults said they were having problems paying their medical bills or had incurred debt to cover their expenses, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based private, health care policy foundation. The study of 4,350 adults also found that people without insurance were more likely to forgo recommended health screenings such as mammograms than those with coverage, and were less likely to have a regular doctor than their insured counterparts. |
That should not be surprising, given the costs involved.
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The report paints a bleak health care picture for the uninsured. "It represents an explosion of the insurance crisis into those with moderate incomes," said Sara Collins, a senior program officer at the Commonwealth Fund.
Collins said the study also illustrates how more employers are dropping coverage or are offering plans that are just too expensive for many people. |
For years the compfortable middle class refused to admit that a crisis was brewing because since it only affected the lower classes, it could hardly be called a crisis. After all, THEY had insurance. But now the boogey man is nipping at THEIR butts and they're starting to roll over and wake up. Why do the horsemen always have to come for you personally, before you realize they're coming?
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| About 45.8 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. |
Still well under the 60 million making less than $25k a year so not a BIG problem for the "middle" class. Yet.
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The percentage of individuals earning less than $20,000 a year without insurance rose to 53 percent, up from 49 percent in 2001. Overall, the percentage of people without insurance rose to 28 percent in 2005 from 24 percent in 2001.
The study also found that 59 percent of uninsured with chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes either skipped a dose of their medicine or went without it because it was too expensive. One-third of them
One-third of those in that group visited an emergency room or stayed in a hospital overnight or did both, compared to 15 percent of their insured counterparts. |
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| "People not being able to take care of themselves should send out a big red flag," said Collins. |
Somebody has to notice, recognize and be willing to do something about the problem before it does any good to send out red flags.
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The Commonwealth Fund's study was bolstered by analysis of government data funded and released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a private organization that provides health care grants.
That study found that cost prevented 41.1 percent of uninsured adults from seeing a doctor, compared to 9.2 percent of individuals with coverage.
Meanwhile, 51 percent of women without health insurance haven't had a mammogram in two years, compared to 22.8 percent of women with insurance.
And 76.3 percent of uninsured men between the ages of 40 to 64 haven't had the PSA test, which detects prostate cancer, in two years. That compares to 52.2 percent of their insured counterparts. |
Ask your senator and congressperson what kind of coverage THEY have and then ask them if they give a rat's ass if you can't afford basic health insurance and/or medical care.
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dictators_rule
Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Posts: 5007
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Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 4:21 pm Post subject: Someone Else Is Paying For It Syndrome
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And as always 'the someone else is paying for it syndrome' kicks in when talking about health care in America which in effect reduces the pay one should be receiving to pay for medical CARE on their own,repeat-pay for medical CARE and NOT benefits. Corporate America themselves realizes that medical care will eventually be paid by someone else even if it is the government.Corporate American has turned the medical business into a cottage INDUSTRY by training medical professionals including doctors,clerks,assistants and technician in factory type schools that rely on a student to get a grant,loan or scholarship of somekind which is relying on the premise that someone else is paying for it syndrome.The pharmacuetical INDUSTRY is the same;charges based on the fact someone else is paying for it.Schools in particular have perpetuated unfortunetely the mostly un-necessary job of insurance and billing CLERKS,adminstrative computer systems and psuedo assistants/clerks.Let alone the doctors medical school loans,grants and scholarships these items are abused in functions that have little or nothing to due for patient care such as the 'billing clerk' school.The whole system is self perpetuating but health CARE has not been fowarded at the same rate.
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