Yesterday's Wall Street Journal claims that 25 million people are underinsured up from 16 million in 2003.
Today the Atlanta Journal Constitution stated 700 people die per year in Georgia, people that would have lived had they been injured in other states because of an underfunded trauma care system in Georgia.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle explains that Grady Hospital in Atlanta "bleeds 40 million dollars in unpaid emergency bills" emminating from the uninsured and underinsured.
And a few hours ago MSNBC ran a disturbing story about how Hospitals use credit reports to guage patients ability and willingness to pay hospital bills.
Vast numbers of underinsured patients. That is new to me. I have insurance and never considered it might be inadequate. The Wall Street Journal Insured, Sort Of: Underinsured Ranks Climb to 25 Million article explained:
25.2 million people aged 19 to 64 were underinsured, up 60% from nearly 16 million in 2003. The authors counted people as underinsured if their out-of-pocket medical expenses equaled at least 10% of their family income, or 5% if they were already low-income, or their deductible equaled at least 5% of their income.
In Geogia this underinsured increase along with the working uninsured may push the total in some South East Georgia rural counties up to over 75%.
I would imagine that in urban Georgia areas the percentages are much lower but the absolute numbers of uninsured people is much higher. But the WSJ Underinsured article above suggests that underinsure should be factored in and added to our notion of the "insurance problem".
It is not as if the underinsured and uninsured do not use any health care resources. For instance the Atlanta Business Chronicle article Grady gets $12.7M in state trauma care funding stated:
The Atlanta safety net hospital is one of only four Level 1 Trauma Care centers in Georgia and the only one in north Georgia. Level 1 centers provide the most highly advanced critical care, have the best personnel and equipment and are the most expensive facilities to run.
Grady had been relying on the state money to help shore up its money-losing balance sheet -- the hospital bleeds about $40 million annually in uncompensated trauma care.
We are to understand that the State of Georgia is willing to kick in 12.7 million dollars now. Meanwhile the hospital's trauma unit loses 40 million dollars in unpaid trauma care each year. Patient care is affected.
The Atlanta Journal Star discusses A stopgap solution:
State officials continue to rely on hospitals to operate the units as a community service, with no direct annual funding from the state. The high cost of providing the specialty care, combined with the high rate of patients coming into the units without insurance, have pushed several hospitals to drop out of the network over the last 10 years.
The result is gaping service holes in rural areas and longer ambulance drives in traffic to take patients to trauma centers in metro areas. Experts estimate that because of the state's inadequate trauma network, about 700 people die each year in Georgia who would have lived had their accident or injury occurred in another state.
Only? 700 people die because of inadequate trauma care alone. Undoubtedly many others die outside of the trauma care unit for lack of funds.
Today MSNBC ran Hospitals peer into patients' credit reports:
Financially squeezed by shrinking reimbursements and expanding uninsured patient rolls, some Atlanta hospitals are using tools to peek into patient credit reports to gauge their ability, and willingness, to pay medical bills.
When is providing healthcare to all not an unfair tax? I have to wonder is it realistic to expect the for profit health care system to ever work?