Growing problem of affordable health insurance affects everyone
19 03 08 - 12:05
Michelle Singletary | The Color of Money
Maria Gomez knows firsthand the devastation that can hit families who don't have health insurance.
Gomez is chief executive officer of Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care in the District of Columbia. The clinic serves Latinos who either have no insurance or are underinsured.
The fact that 47 million people -- 9 million children -- in this country are uninsured has been one of the top issues in the current presidential campaign. Equally troubling is this statistic: The lack of health care coverage is most acute among Hispanics and African-Americans, many of whom work in low-wage jobs without benefits or are employed by small businesses that don't offer coverage.
''Things are getting worse,'' Gomez said. ''What we are seeing is a lot of people coming in who cannot qualify for government programs.''
These families earn too much to qualify for free care but don't make enough to pay for their own health insurance, she said.
Thirty-six percent of Hispanics are uninsured, compared with 22 percent of African-Americans, 17 percent of Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 13 percent of whites, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's most recent analysis of census data.
''The numbers are just unbelievable,'' said Jennifer Ng'andu, associate director of health policy for the National Council of La Raza. ''I'm very excited the discussion about this has been generating a lot of attention. But now our leaders have to start thinking about how we move forward to get people access to health care.''
If you have adequate health insurance and are inclined to think this issue doesn't affect you, let me assure you it does.
The cost of insurance for those with coverage is escalating in part because the number of uninsured Americans keeps rising, said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a nonprofit, national organization that advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Center for Health Statistics, Families USA determined that the unpaid expenses for the uninsured added an average of $922 dollars in 2005 to the premiums for employer-provided family health insurance. That extra cost could rise to $1,502 in 2010, the group found.
If you have insurance, you know how the costs hit your wallet.
Increasingly, employers are shifting a larger portion of their health premiums to employees. You may be able to afford your policy today but it's possible you may not in the future.
Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 6.1 percent in 2007, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust. The average annual premium for family coverage in 2007 was $12,106, and workers paid an average of $3,281 out of their paychecks to cover their share of the cost of a family policy.
Since 2001, premiums for family coverage have increased 78 percent.
It may be easy to dismiss the uninsured, especially minority families, as a group of people who just want a handout or who should strive to get better-paying jobs. But these people are the workers and caregivers who provide needed services.
The people without insurance ring up your purchases at retail stores. They mow your lawns or fix the roof on your home. They cook the meals and clear away your dishes in the restaurants.
They watch your children so you can work at a job with health benefits.
They care for your elderly parents or grandparents.
''This is a problem for all of us. Eighty percent of people who are uninsured are working and some at more than one job. They deserve to have health care coverage,'' says Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The foundation sponsors ''Cover the Uninsured Week'' (www.covertheuninsured.org), a national campaign that runs this year from April 27 to May 3. The campaign is intended to highlight the plight of the uninsured. Lavizzo-Mourey says minorities, who disproportionately suffer from chronic illnesses, often avoid getting critical screening or skip treatment because they lack health insurance.
Lavizzo-Mourey points to the story of Ruth, a diabetic African-American in her 50s, who came into a clinic with an ulcer on her foot. By the time she sought help, she needed more care then the clinic could offer.
''When we told her she needed to get to a hospital, she burst into tears,'' said Lavizzo-Mourey, who was working at the clinic at the time.
Ruth was reluctant to seek medical attention because she was already trying to pay off other staggering medical bills.
In a sad irony, Ruth is a home health care aid, who couldn't afford medical care herself.
There is at least one good thing that may emerge from the current economic crisis. As more people lose their jobs and join the ranks of the uninsured, it will be harder for our political leaders to avoid a long-term solution.
Michelle Singletary can be reached c/o The Washington Post, 1150 15th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20081. Her e-mail address is singletarym@washpost.com. Comments and questions are welcome, but due to the volume of mail, personal responses may not be possible. Please also note comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer's name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.