Asclepios
Get Asclepios free by e-mail every week! Click here to subscribe.
Running the Numbers
August 31, 2006 • Volume 6, Issue 35New numbers from the Census Bureau this week show the percentage of uninsured Americans rose last year to nearly 16 percent as employer-based coverage continues to erode. The 46.5 million Americans without health insurance in 2005 also included a higher number of uninsured children, despite the existence of programs—the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid—targeting this vulnerable population.
The number of Americans over 65 without health insurance remains negligible, however. For the last 19 years, as the percentage of Americans under employer coverage has declined, the fraction of older Americans without health benefits has hovered around 1 percent.
The reason, of course, is Medicare.
Our fragmented health system cannot adequately take care of America’s children. Over 27 million working Americans cannot get insurance through their job (or jobs). But at least we have figured out how to provide health care for the oldest Americans and people with disabilities.
Medicare was created because private coverage was not available, or not affordable, to millions of older Americans and people with disabilities. Today, as the numbers released this week make clear, private insurance is increasingly out of reach for the rest of America, even when we are able-bodied and working.
It is time to start looking at the part of our health care system that is functioning—Medicare—and extend it to everyone.
Extending Medicare coverage to all Americans would eliminate the waste and inefficiencies of our current fractured health care system by, to quote Winston Churchill, “bringing the magic of averages to the rescue of millions.” Insurance is designed to work by spreading costs across a large number of people. Premiums are based on the average costs for the people in the insured group. This risk-spreading helps make insurance reasonably affordable for everyone in the group. It is estimated that bringing all 296 million Americans into one single insurance pool would save the United States at least $200 billion annually.
Over 70 percent of Americans already support a taxpayer-funded, national health insurance plan—Medicare for America.
In a democracy, that should count for something.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers and insurance companies, of course, oppose the idea and use their campaign contributions to swing congressional votes their way. That’s why we have the Part D disaster, and Medicare is barred from negotiating lower drug prices.
The numbers that really count, however, are the votes that get tallied in November. If we demand that our elected representatives solve this health care mess, stand up against the special interests and back a plan that works, we can get what we need—Medicare for America.
Tell your representatives to support Medicare for all Americans.
Medical Record
“The pharmaceutical industry quietly footed the bill for at least part of a recent multimillion-dollar ad campaign praising lawmakers who support the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to political officials” (“Medicare Ads Paid by Drug Industry,” Associated Press, August 25, 2006).
“‘The number of uninsured Americans reached an all-time high in 2005,’ said Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. ‘It is sobering that 5.4 million more people lacked health insurance in 2005 than in the recession year of 2001, primarily because of the erosion of employer-based insurance’” (“The Number of Uninsured Americans Is at an All-time High,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,” August 29, 2006).
The proportion of children who are uninsured increased from 10.8 percent to 11.2 percent between 2004 and 2005; the number of uninsured children increased from 7.9 million to 8.3 million (“Income Climbs, Poverty Stabilizes, Uninsured Rate Increases,” U.S. Census Bureau, August 29, 2006).
“The proposed plan [for national health coverage] would save the United States at least $200 billion annually, according to its authors, who said the savings would be realized by eliminating the overhead costs and profits of the private insurers and reducing spending for marketing and other services. According to its advocates, the national health plan could be paid for through taxes that would be offset by the elimination of insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs” (“Single-payer Health Plan Gains Support from Nation’s Physicians,” American Public Health Association, October 2003).
In response to a question about options for assuring health care coverage for all Americans, 72.2 percent of online respondents either “agreed” or “strongly agreed” with the option “Create a national health plan, financed by taxpayers, in which all Americans would get their health insurance.” At the same time, 61 percent of respondents “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” with the option “Rely on free market competition among doctors, hospitals, other health care providers and insurance companies, rather than having government define benefits and set prices” (“Appendix C: Online Health Care Poll,” Citizens’ Health Care Working Group, June 1, 2006). See Asclepios, August 10, 2006.
***** The Medicare Rights Center (MRC) needs to hear about all the problems with the Medicare Part D benefit, whether they happen to you or someone in your community. With this information, we will be armed with the needed evidence to push for a Medicare-administered drug benefit.
Fast Relief: Part D Monitoring Project
Submit your story at www.medicarerights.org/partdstories.html
*****
The Louder Our Voice, the Stronger Our Message Asclepios — named for the Greek and Roman god of medicine who, acclaimed for his healing abilities, was at one point the most worshipped god in Greece—is a weekly e-newsletter designed to keep you up-to-date with Medicare program and policy issues, and advance advocacy strategies to address them. Please help build awareness of key Medicare consumer issues by forwarding this action alert to your friends and encouraging them to subscribe today.
Please send all replies and subscription requests to mrcadvocacyupdate@medicarerights.org.
Get Asclepios free by e-mail every week! Click here to subscribe.