New Report, Same Old Story on The Ill Uninsured
One third of uninsured Americans has a chronic disease that is not being medically cared for. People who are uninsured typically only see the doctor through ER visits when the conditions have gotten very bad and out of control. These patients will have complications from their conditions and die younger after being prematurely disabled.
There are about 47 million uninsured in the United States. The reports concludes that 11.4 million Americans that have at least one of seven major illnesses are not insured. They broke it down to 16.1% of 7.8 million with heart disease, 15.5 % of 38.2 million with high blood pressure, and 16.6% of 8.5 million diabetics. They also looked at other conditions such as COPD, cancer, asthma, and high cholesterol.
6.2% of insured people did not have regular doctor visits compared to 26% of uninsured who also did not. 22% of the uninsured had not gone to see a doctor in the past year compared to 6.2% of insured. 1.1% of insured people used the ER as their source of care, compared to 7.1% of uninsured.
Doctors can become frustrated because they know that almost all these conditions can be managed with minimal complications if they were given the chance to treat them early and regularly.
It would seem to me that the answer lies in insuring the uninsured, or making health care and medicine competitive and possible at lower costs.
Death Toll of The Uninsured
We’ve all known for some time now that people who are uninsured are more likely to skip preventative care and even wait until an illness has progressed to a dangerous point before going to an emergency room for treatment.
The White House and the candidates for president must recognize that early preventative care and screenings could save millions in the long run. They could easily set up low cost clinics for the uninsured to go to for regular physicals and for when people suspect they have a problem. This would certainly be more cost efficient than waiting until a disease has advanced to a point where hospitalization is required to save a life via an emergency room visit.
A recent study says that in Illinois for example 18 people die every week from being uninsured. For the entire US, the stats rise to 18,000 a year. People who are uninsured have more than a 25% higher risk of death than do those who are insured.
Maybe our leaders in Washington should take a look at what other countries are doing and go from there. There is no reason so many lives should be lost because of a bad health care crisis.
Medicare Advantage Under Attack
The Medicare Advantage program allows seniors to choose a private insurance provider to support their Medicare coverage. Often times these are offered for a very low premium or none at all. This is especially helpful for those with a very low income. They are unable to pay the percentage of their medical bills that traditional Medicare does not cover. By using the Medicare Advantage program, they are left with very low co pays and even the benefit of the Medicare Part D prescription plan with a much smaller premium than they would face if taking the Part D portion alone.
For many seniors this is the only available options for their medical care. As we all are aware, senior citizens are living on very little. Most only receive Social Security, which dies not provide well. It is rather upsetting that Congress continues each year to pursue legislation that would reduce the benefits these seniors receive. Last year, they attempted to sneak these cuts into the Children’s Health Insurance Bill (SCHIP). Thankfully, for our senior citizens this was vetoed by the President.
There are many health plans that offer Medicare Advantage coverage. The open enrollment period is in November, and the new coverage takes place at the beginning of the New Year. Many times, though seniors have an option to change their plan throughout the year without a penalty. New enrollments are accepted through the year as well. If you are new to Medicare, or just the Medicare Advantage program, you can join without any penalties at any time during the year.