I just learned that the Mayo Clinic and M.D. Anderson will be part of our health plan beginning July 1st. Which means that if I get really sick, I can't go to those hospitals for almost 6 weeks. And if I'd gotten really sick a year ago, I couldn't have gone to them for treatment.
A year ago I couldn't go, but soon I can. Because some guys in an insurance office say it's ok. But I keep thinking about the people who don't have health insurance at all.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
Data released today by the Census Bureau show that the number of uninsured Americans stood at 45.8 million in 2004, an increase of 800,000 people over the number uninsured in 2003 (45.0 million). The percentage of people without health insurance, 15.7 percent in 2004, was not significantly different from the 15.6 percent rate in 2003.
"The number of uninsured Americans was at an all-time high in 2004, while the percentage who lack health insurance coverage showed no improvement," said Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "These findings are disappointing, as they follow three years of successive deterioration in health insurance coverage. It is sobering that six million more people lacked health insurance in 2004 than in 2000. Once again, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program played a pivotal role in keeping the number of uninsured Americans from being even higher."
Key Findings from the New Census Data
- The number of people without health insurance was 45.8 million in 2004, compared to 45.0 million in 2003 and 39.8 million in 2000 (see table below).
- The increase in the number of those without insurance was focused among working age adults. The percentage of working adults (18 to 64) who were uninsured climbed from 18.6 percent in 2003 to 19.0 percent in 2004 (an increase of over 750,000 people in 2004).
(snip)
- Lack of insurance was much more common among those with low incomes. Some 24.3 percent of people with incomes below $25,000 were uninsured, almost triple the rate of 8.4 percent for people with incomes over $75,000
- African-Americans (19.7 percent uninsured) and Hispanics (32.7 percent) were much more likely to be uninsured than white, non-Hispanic people (11.3 percent).
- The percentage of native citizens who were uninsured rose in 2004, while the percentage of non-citizen immigrants who lacked coverage fell. Nonetheless, non-citizen immigrants (44.1 percent uninsured) were much more likely to be uninsured than native-born citizens (13.3 percent).
What happens to a family when an uninsured relative gets seriously ill? Our oldest son is a member of the working uninsured class. And I wonder what we'd do if he was diagnosed with cancer. Could we possibly come up with enough money to save him? I don't think we could send him to M.D. Anderson if that was the place he needed to go. What if he got any chronic or deteriorating illness? What would we do?
There is no safety net for people like him. Should there be? Is everyone in your family insured? Have you got plans for the care of the people who aren't insured?
(also posted at
Eat4Today)