THE UNINSURED

A GROWING EPIDEMICby: Wendy Raney

--THE UNINSURED--* wikipedia.com has a definition for the term uninsured in the United States: those who are residents of the U.S. and do not have health insurance coverage.

* According to information from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 46.5 million Americans who were uninsured in 2005 (15.9% of the population).* 45.7 million Americans were uninsured in 2007 (15.3% of the population).

* These numbers make it appear that the number of uninsured Americans has decreased. This is not the case* The number of uninsured was down in 2007 because an extra 3 million people received medical coverage through govt. programs.

(www.wikipedia.com)

* The number of uninsured people who are under the age of 65 has gradually increased since 2000.

(www.wikipedia.com)

ECONOMIC* Approximately 61% of the 45 million uninsured Americans are in households with annual incomes under $50,000.* 38% live in households with incomes greater than $50,000.

ECONOMIC CONT.* An annual insurance premium for a household of four is approximately $11,480.00* An annual insurance premium for an individual is approximately $4,242.00

ECONOMIC CONT.* The United States has the highest level of spending on health care when compared to all of the other 30 nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

CAUSES OF HIGHER MEDICAL COSTS

* Higher spending on health care in the U.S. is not because Americans utilize the health care system more, and it is not because of higher capacity.

(O'Rourke, 2008, p.47)

CAUSES OF HIGHER MEDICAL COSTS

opportunity cost is the cause of higher medical costs in the U.S.•fewer physicians•fewer nurses•fewer available hospital beds•fewer number of days healthcare allows per diagnosis

(O'Rourke, 2008, p.47)

CULTURAL* Data from the Census Bureau shows that people of Hispanic origin are affected the greatest by being uninsured.* Approximately 1/3 of Hispanics are uninsured.

(Retchin et al, 2009, p.246)(www.wikipedia.com)

STATES WITH LARGEST POPULATION UNINSURED

Top 5 states

--Texas--24.4%--New Mexico--21.9%--Florida--20.5%--California--18.4%--Oklahoma--18.2%

•estimates show that approximately 1/5 of people who are uninsured are able to afford insurance•approximately 1/4 are eligible for public coverage•55% need financial aid to help with medical coverage•an estimated 5 million Americans are uninsurable because of pre-existing condition

(www.wikipedia.com)

WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE UNINSURED?

•Job does not have a medical plan

•Unemployed--can't afford it

•Have the money, choose not to purchase health insurance

•Have a pre-existing condition and no health insurance company will insure them

CONSEQUENCES OF BEING UNINSURED

•53% of insured choose to see a doctor when sick as compared to only 46% of uninsured who see a doctor when sick•37% of insured are actively receiving treatment for a chronic condition, only 28% of uninsured are currently receiving such treatment

(Zieve, 2008, p.15)

UNINSURED CONSEQUENCES

The cost of treating the population who are uninsured is passed on the the population that is insured.

1.higher health insurance premiums 2. taxes 3. higher medical bills

(www.wikipedia.com)

IDEAS FOR CHANGE--We as Americans need to take control of our own health issues--Do not sit back and expect medicine to undo all the negative things we have done to ourselves--We need to strive to become a more prevention based society instead of just planning to treat the condition once it has set in

IDEAS FOR CHANGE CONT.

--Ongoing treatments that include natural therapies (herbs, natural vitamins, chiropractic care)--Quarterly wellness visits to your doctor without having to pay the full cost of the visit

(Zieve, 2008, p.15)

THE POLITICS OF IT ALL

Healthcare reform has become a major focus of political debates--including presidential elections.Although there is much debate on what should be done, everyone is in agreement that something has to be done.

THE POLITICS OF IT ALL

58% of Americans believe that if politicians make the right changes they could successfully achieve healthcare reform. And, do it without affecting their current health care arrangements.

(www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/)

References

•O'Rourke, T., & Ryan, D. (2008). Opportunities lost: the opportunity costs of U.S. healthcare. American Journal of Health Studies, 23(1), 47-53.•Retchin, S., Garland, S., & Anum, E. (2009). The transfer of uninsured patients from academic to community primary care settings. The American Journal of Managed Care, 15(4), 245-252.•Zieve, R. (2008). Health care at the crossroads: real change? LILIPOH, Fall, 13-19.•www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/•www.wikipedia.com