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Middle class and working families are hurting.
Health care costs are skyrocketing while benefits are being cut, and family incomes can't keep up with rising health burdens.
Isn't it wrong for anyone who works hard, pays taxes and plays by the rules to have to go without decent health care or to be driven into economic hardship because of health costs? With American families feeling increasingly helpless in the face of skyrocketing costs and stagnant wages, they are desperate for real reform. An overwhelming 89 percent of Americans - including 80 percent of Republicans and 84 percent of Conservatives - agree with the following statement:
With costs rising out of control and the quality of health coverage declining, the health care system in our country is broken, and we need to make fundamental changes.
Health care cost is one of the primary threats facing our country's economy as a whole.
These costs are even greater threats to Americans as individuals. Health care costs are the cause of over 50% of all personal bankruptcies. Individual health care debt, both for the insured and the uninsured, is the number one threat facing the economic well-being of working Americans.
In 1994, only 37 million Americans were uninsured. That number has grown by ten million since then. Now, 47 million are uninsured. That's one out of every six American citizens.
Between 1996 and 2005, an employee's spending on health insurance premiums for his or her family has shot up 85% - yes, 85% - and incomes, in the same period, of course, have not shot up or even followed that trend.
Take a look at the ratio of family premiums to medican family income. In 1987, a family paid 7% of its income on health insurance premiums. Today, that same family will pay 17% of its income towards premiums.
And, of course, since health insurance typically has higher co-pays, deductibles and coinsurance amounts today also, well, not only will a typical family pay 10% more of its income to premiums, it will also pay higher percentages of income to actual costs.
Families today pay more and get less - if they get health care at all.
Health care costs are growing so much faster than economic productivity or wages.
Based on a 2005 survey, we know that Americans no longer can deny that our system is broken:
According to an ABCNews/Washington Post poll in October 2007, Americans express broad, and in some cases growing, discontent with the U.S. health care system, based on its costs, structure and direction alike -- fueling cautious support for a government-run, taxpayer-funded universal health system modeled on Medicare.
In that extensive poll, Americans by a 2-1 margin, 55 to 29 percent, prefer a universal health insurance program over the current employer-based system.
Let's let that sink in:
The majority of Americans prefer a single payer system, by a majority of two to one.
A Gallup Poll produced in November 2007 shows that the vast majority (81%) of Americans are dissatisfied with costs of health care - and the majority (64%) believe that it's the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care.
Rising insurance premiums and the decreasing "at work" coverages have left 47 million U.S. citizens uninsured, although the majority of these uninsured Americans are working full time. Four out of five uninsured Americans live in working families.
Nearly half of all small businesses no longer provide health coverage for their employees.
Our so-called "health care system" is broken and is wrecking our economy and our families' futures.
Bottom line: The health care system in our country is broken, and we need to make fundamental changes in how it's delivered, how it's accessed and how it's paid for.
Reform is no longer a question, it's inevitable.
It's broken. Thankfully, we are all ready to fix it.
More information about our health care crisis in America:
- Choosing Death or Debt: Is This Our Health Care System?
- Wrong, Again: Bush Denies Health Care for 10 Million Kids.
- 81% Support Expanding SCHIP, Including Republicans
- SCHIP Specifically Designed For Middle Class
- Some important facts on SCHIP
- Our Sacred Obligation To Protect Our Nation's Young
- Bush is wrong on policy and ideology for health care
- SCHIP Support Needed
- The Time Has Come for Bold Change
- Those children are our children because they are his
- Using his power to keep doctors away from kids
- Cost of Health Care for Unprotected Children
- John Edwards' critical insight about national health insurance
- Bush may require uninsured children to suffer
- One American City Leads the Way
- Everybody In! Nobody Out!
- Dying in America: Lack of Access to Medical Care
- We'll Just Take Your Arm
- Who cares that we could save both money and lives?
- Children, Families and Health Care
- Bush Opposes Health Care for 3 Million Children
- Primary Concerns
- Are You Kidding Me, Mr. President?
- 27% of Americans Have One
- Using My Voice: Speaking for Those That Can't
- Texas Proud!
- Matters of Life and Death, Literally
- No Halfway Measure Can Be Considered Acceptable
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Comments (6)
While it's true that most Americans want universal health care, surveys show that the majority of us don't trust the government to control health insurance. Some of this is because many people think a single payer system will lead to rationing (as if we didn't have rationing already). Since 85 percent of the population is covered by some form of insurance, there's a fear that switching to a government-run system will mean poorer coverage for those who now have fairly good insurance. Even if there were broad public support for a single payer system, and if we could overcome the resistance of insurers to being phased out and of providers to government price controls, going to a single payer system would provide only a short-term fix by reducing administrative costs. In the long run, we have to restructure our delivery system and install competitive incentives to deal with relentless upward cost pressures.
Posted by Ken Terry
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December 31, 2007 9:10 AM
Posted on December 31, 2007 09:10
Ken, we are honored that you visit here. I know that your experience with the medical economics informs your opinion.
You are loyal to the free market in your desire to have the "for profit economy" take care of our health care system problems. There's nothing wrong with an economist having confidence in letting the economy solve our problems - but, it's becoming more clear that the American citizens have lost confidence in our "for profit" health "system."
Too many Americans seem to have paid the price of the "for profit" system through unreasonable personal debt, denial of lifesaving services and lack of adequate care or quality. We have a "caste" system now in health care.
You bring up some very good points about costs being the same or more with single payer insurance. Thank you.
However, history (in other civilized nations and even in our own government sponsored programs) does not show that government health care costs more, indeed, experience shows that the quality is improved and it costs less. See Pam's other recent post for illumination of the costs of German and French health care and even a discussion of VA and Medicare costs: Death or Debt?
You also bring up a good point about the idea of installing "competitive incentives" to deal with the relentless upward cost pressures. Said like a die hard economist. The only problem with that is that healthcare has already proven its inability to "compete" in the free market system. It has failed in the market economy.
Why? First, it's highly regulated and will likely be more and more regulated. Americans will not stand to have it less regulated because at this point regulation creates some safeguards and equity - removing regulation removes those patient safety safeguards and fairness. BUT, with the over regulation, it is impossible for it to compete 'freely' in a market economy.
Many on the front line of managing health care provider businesses (like hospitals and medical centers) believe that the primary payment for service already comes from the government. The government is already the biggest customer or at least the most influential health care customer. This brings even more market restraint into the system.
It seems to me that we have all endured 30 years of the market trying to "install competitive incentives" to deal with the relentless upward cost pressures. Those incentives are the bedrock of the managed care and managed health insurance business. It's true that in the last 30 years of domination by managed care (HMOs, PPOs, etc.), that the insurance companies have had enormous (even unseemly) profits - but, it's not true that these "competitive incentives" have improved quality or access - or even reduced costs for the citizens.
Costs have increased and quality has declined. Access had reduced.
It seems unlikely that we will ever be able to restructure a free market "for profit" economy of health care to install competitive incentives to deal with relentless upward costs. Been there. Done that. It simply hasn't worked and those that study this know it is a failed experiment.
We are the only civilized industrial nation that has not yet taken our health care system out of the free market economy. We have been stubborn. But our stubbornness has led to pain and suffering by larger and larger numbers of Americans - and, the quality of our "system" - overall - is not superior to those countries where the health care system has been taken out of the "for profit" sector.
You are right that many Americans will be reluctant to move health care out of the free market economy and into single payer - but I am convinced that we will see this happen in your lifetime and mine - because it's the right thing to do - in order to improve both costs and quality.
Posted by Simone Davis
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December 31, 2007 10:04 AM
Posted on December 31, 2007 10:04
Simone, thanks for defending my post - but, Ken's comment does mirror the thoughts of many Americans.
Many Americans do still believe that the market economy can solve our health care crisis - and many Americans are still happy with their current private insurance coverages.
I do believe that fundamental changes are required and simple market incentives won't provide the costs relief and improvement in quality that we need. However, since Americans aren't yet ready, as a whole, for the fundamental changes that are required, it does seem like fixing our system will require incremental steps, like stepping stones.
The first order of business is to make sure that all Americans have coverage.
Posted by Pam Pohly
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December 31, 2007 10:45 AM
Posted on December 31, 2007 10:45
OMG I've never seen such a long comment before, Simone!! You must feel strongly about healthcare!
Yes, I can see what Ken means about Americans not wanting to give up control of their current plans. I'm sure he's right.
And, yes, I can see what Simone means about how the 'for profit' healthcare system has failed and will continue to fail.
And, finally, I agree with Pam too that we will eventually (how long?) have single payer care like all the other civilized nations.
So - everybody's right!
I'm just happy that everybody is passionate and committed to change.
Nora Thomason
Posted by Nora Thomason
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December 31, 2007 11:49 AM
Posted on December 31, 2007 11:49
I agree that the free enterprise system and health care are like oil and water. They don't mix. Quality is degraded, prices escalate, accountability is compromised and it seems to be treated like a free market luxury that the wealthy compete for.
No. Health care is a right, not a privilege and this can only be realized when we treat is like a public good. Besides the economy has failed the health care. Time's up.
Lola Wheeler
Posted by Lola Wheeler
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December 31, 2007 5:18 PM
Posted on December 31, 2007 17:18
Apparently, according to recent polls (See Gallup poll, Dec 2007), 2 out of every 3 of us want the federal government to take responsibility for making sure that all Americans have health care coverage - and, at least half of us want single payer (Gallup).
Posted by Pam Pohly
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January 1, 2008 10:31 AM
Posted on January 1, 2008 10:31