Health Care - The Uninsured: Part Two

The group of uninsured people in the U.S. is dynamic, as mentioned in my earlier blog; Wisconsin has an estimated 546,870 people, or about 9.9% of our population, who are uninsured at any one point in time. These numbers rely upon the use of Census information, analysis by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and estimates by the Congressional Budget Office.

We established the four major groups:
*people who are eligible for existing government programs but who have failed to enroll
*middle class people who earn $50,000 or more per year and who believe they cannot afford or choose not to buy insurance
*people who are classified as the short-term uninsured [up to two years uninsured, recent college graduates, seasonal workers and those who feel no need for insurance [or “the invincible” as I intimated in my last blog]
*the long-term uninsured who simply have fallen through the cracks and remain uninsured for a time span beyond two years

What is the number of Wisconsin citizens that fall into each category?

First, the group that already qualifies for government programs but has failed to enroll represents an estimated 204,529 people.

Second, the group classified as middle class who either cannot afford to or have chosen not to buy insurance is estimated at 174,998 people.

Third, the short-term uninsured is estimated to contain 68,359 people.

Based on these estimates, then, the long-term uninsured group is comprised of an estimated 98,984 people or about 1.8% of Wisconsin’s population.

Does this mean we still have a serious problem as far as the number of uninsured in Wisconsin and the country? Absolutely we do. Does it mean that we have to turn the present system on its head and move to “universal health care” (the euphemism for Single-Payer coverage)? Absolutely not.

It does mean that we need to bring all those who do not have insurance into the insurance system. It means that costs incurred by those providers who are not paid for services rendered are being shifted to the third party reimbursement system. That simply magnifies the increases in health care costs and, thus, insurance premiums year over year.

It also points up the truth that many do not want to accept: our problem is a health care cost problem and not a health insurance cost problem. Health insurance increases mirror the increased costs of health care, not the other way around.

Insurance by its nature was always intended to help each of us defray the unexpected catastrophic expenses that might befall us. We have come to expect that health insurance will cover everything. Prepaid health care has removed consumers from the equation...to the detriment of the whole system!

It’s as if our auto insurance covered the cost of gasoline and oil changes in addition to collision and comprehensive damage expense. It’s as if our homeowners’ coverage covered the cost of a new garage door opener when it quit working or a new coat of paint every few years.

Reform of our health care delivery system is too important to permit ourselves to be confused by “sleight of hand”. We have to get it right for we’ll most likely not have another opportunity to do so!