The high cost of health insurance is an American epidemic. It holds no bearing on what income class you are in, it is still too expensive. The most effected are the poor and middle classes. They have fewer options because they have less money to spend. Many of these people can barely afford any type of insurance and in some cases cannot afford any coverage at all. There are approximately over 40 million Americans that have no health insurance and the numbers are steadily rising. Many households have incomes less than $20,000 annually so affording insurance benefits is not an option. For low wage jobs or jobs that have less than 20 employees, benefits are very limited and sometimes not even offered.
In addition, most of the people who are uninsured don’t qualify for public medical assistance because the limits for not being eligible are extremely low. The growing population of self employed people who don’t have the option of group rate medical insurance also often go with out benefits due to the expensive nature of independent health care plans. They may seem to have more money but the total out of pocket and premium expenses add up at the end of the year when you have to pay taxes and overhead as well as regular bills.
It really doesn’t matter if you are an unskilled laborer or extremely skilled professional. If you lack a an employer health care plan at a reasonable cost, you only the two choices or no insurance or paying through the nose for a private plan. Many Americans just opt to be uninsured so they can pay for their regular bills and feed themselves and their families. How these people pay for their medical bills depends on their resources. Some people will qualify for public assistance and be able to get help with medical benefits similar to an HMO. For those who don’t qualify for public assistance, some people go to clinics that give care based on income. This offers decent care for a reasonable price. This option does not cover hospital or emergency care. You will have to make a payment arrangement with the hospital you chose. Then there the people who cannot even afford small payments and chose to go to the emergency room where they cannot be turned away, then not pay at all. This kind of thing is very common and just makes medical cost rise and makes health care and insurance even more costly.
Some of the reason for the growing cost in medicine today is due to the increasing demand for new and improved techniques and medicines. People are willing to shell out their entire savings for a new treatment or surgical technique. So the health care industry endorses these new expensive experiments and then refuses to cover them without upping the plan cost. It is extremely important for people to take their medical future seriously. But with rise in cost and decline in access and ability, it makes that very hard for many. Many companies are trying battle the cost of health care for their employees by setting up medical savings accounts. The employees can have a deduction from their check and put it in this account tax free and collect interest. Many people cannot afford to put money in the account even if it is offered though. Some employers offer a matching amount as an incentive for the investment. Unfortunately, the biggest advantage will be to the upper and wealthy class persons. The low income and working class will see little benefit from MRAs.
With the increase in unemployment there are a growing number of people who don’t have group insurance rate at their disposal. These people are either forced to pay for their old policy through COBRA at a much higher rate, buy a private policy at a high rate, or go with out medical benefits till they find work that will offer a plan. The poorest of Americans are the least heard about. The big business sweeps them under the carpet and pretends they aren’t there. For those people who are $1 over poverty guidelines, obtaining insurance is near impossible. Even applying for other types of public assistance with medical can take years of being on a waiting list. For these extremely poor folks, even a clinic is like paying $100 per visit.
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Author: Bisys Educational Services
Paperback: 600 pages
Company: Pearson Education (2004-12-13)
ISBN: 0789732602
List Price: $39.99
Amazon Price: $24.18
Used Price: $23.98
How did the United States come to have its distinctive workplace-based health insurance system? Why did Progressive initiatives to establish a government system fail? This book explores the history of health insurance in the United States from its roots in the nineteenth-century sickness funds offered by industrial employers, fraternal organizations, and labor unions to the rise of such group plans as Blue Cross and Blue Shield in the mid-twentieth century.
Historians generally view the failure to establish universal health insurance during the first half of the twentieth century as an indicator of the political clout of insurers, employers, unions, and physicians who thwarted Progressive efforts. But the explanation is actually simpler, John Murray contends in this book. Careful analysis of the workings of industrial sickness funds suggests that workers rejected plans for compulsory state insurance because they were largely content with existing private plans. Murray revises our understanding of the evolution of health care insurance in the United States and discusses the implications of that history for the ongoing debates of today.
Author: John E. Murray
Hardcover: 336 pages
Company: Yale University Press (2007-11-13)
ISBN: 0300120915
List Price: $40.00
Amazon Price: $31.57
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