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National Center for Health Statistics
When we think of the growing burden of paying for health care, we often think of older Americans struggling to pay for medicines and procedures that can become more prevalent as we age.
But new data from the National Center for Health Statistics finds that kids who are 17 and under are the most likely of any age group they studied to be living in a family that has recently had trouble affording their medical bills.
The data, released Wednesday by the government researchers, found that about 24 percent of children ages 17 and under are living in a family that has had trouble paying their medical bills in the past year.
By contrast, just about 10 percent of people who are 65 to 74 years old were living in a family that had had problems paying medical bills in the past year.
Experts say we shouldn’t take the data to mean that kids aren’t getting the health care they need. In fact, most kids have some sort of health insurance.
An analysis of insurance coverage for children, released by the Carsey Institute last fall, found that around 92 percent of children under age 18 were covered by health insurance as of 2010.
The researchers did find that private health care coverage for kids had fallen slightly from a year earlier, but that was more than offset by an uptick in the percentage of kids who were covered under public plans such as the state children’s health insurance program.
Overall, the Carsey report found that about 36 percent of kids were covered by public plans.
“Kids’ coverage is much better than adults,” said Shana Alex Lavarreda, director of health insurance studies for the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Still, just because the kids are covered doesn’t mean that Mom and Dad have health insurance. Lavarreda said, her research has shown that in California many kids who are covered by government insurance programs are in families where the parents are uninsured.
Lavarreda said families that include children may have health care debt in part because their budgets are stretched by family bills such as child care, food, clothing and other expenses. That leaves little wiggle room for covering an unexpected illness or injury.
“There are probably compounding factors here where families with children are also those who have extra expenses,” she said. “And that puts an extra squeeze on being able to pay for other things, like medical bills.”
The CDC researchers found that nearly 39 percent of families with kids under 17 had had some financial burden from medical care, including bills that are being paid over time and bills they couldn't pay at all.
The government analysis was based on surveys of about 52,000 people conducted in the first six months of 2011. It found that generally, the older a person gets the less likely they are to live in a family experiencing trouble paying for medical needs.
Lavarreda said Americans who are 65 or older may have more health problems and health needs, but also more wealth to use toward those bills. In addition, older Americans are likely have Medicare to help cover health expenses.
The parents of children under 17 may either not have insurance at all, or have insurance but still have to pay out of pocket.
Medical debt can affect people’s financial and personal well-being, Lavarreda said. People with medical debt are more likely to be dealing with financial problems such as bankruptcy, and also to have trouble paying for needed care such as doctor’s visits. In addition, they are more likely to end up in the emergency room seeking care, she said.
Related:
1 in 5 older Americans scrimping on health care to save money
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This is the result of GLOBALIZATION and CORPORATE GREED.
People work for 3 main reasons: 1)for a secure retirement 2) to pay for kids college
3) to have adequate healthcare for their families.
CORPORATE GREE and GLOBALIZATION have stripped many of all three.
So, why WORK?
And the idiot Republicans want a war with Iran to further raise gasoline prices and increase national debt. Instead of wasting money on stupid wars ALL CHILDREN IN AMERICA SHOULD RECEIVE FREE HEALTHCARE!
That's because our politicians are invested up to their eyeballs with defense contractors. The more wars, the more money they make $$$$. They have no conscience.
What in this article led you to that crazy conclusion?
There's no such thing as free health-care.
Somebody pays for it.
This article is a fluff piece. It identifies a problem, and then list all sorts of reasons "why." But curiously omit an important reason.....the choices these families are making. Are they really strapped for money, or do they simply choose to make paying medical bills a low priority? I've known so many people than can afford a pricey I-phone, yet can't send the Dr $250 for a past due bill. How about some responsibility?
The choice I've had to make is to get by until I no longer have a choice. I've lost much of my access to health care due to Obamacare. My deductible is now $5000 in network, $10000 out of network on an HSA, so I pay first. (And I live in the Midwest, so these types of deductibles are much more serious than, say, New York City.) Since signing the bill, our company has struggled so much more to even KEEP a plan than ever before in our history. Soon, many will be in the same boat our small company is, much higher prices and less access to care. Then they will be able to write an article that is more factual than fluff.
@ Ruken, That's like saying "there is no such thing as free nuclear weapons and missles"
It all depends on your priorities
- I would rather spend money on Americans that "rebuilding" Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bosnia, Panama, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Somalia, Viet Nam, North Korea, or any other foreign country we meddle in!
I think your health care administrator should look into better health care. $5000 deductible? Someone dropped the ball on their employees. I work for a small company as well but the owner went out and found the best insurance he could where I only pay $800 for a family of four (includes dental and eye care). I dont think you can blame Obama for this one.
we need comprehensive health care reform -- oh sorry! the American people don't want it. Let me shut up.
Gabriele - I am the Administrator and I spend months canvassing for other care. Premium increases went as high as 218%. Rules vary from state to state, and in ours, the companies have to quote us, but if they are not interested in the small employer market, (25 and under) they rate them very high so they won't be picked. Is that $800 a month? And what % of the premium do you pay? Those rules on % paid vary state to state and by company size as well.
In 2 post Obamacare renewals, (we renew 8/1) we have gone from a $2500 in/$5000 out of network deductible on a PPO to the $5000/$10000 on an HSA, the alternative would have been a premium increases over 50%. We never had that pre-Obamacare.
If the Washington warmongers can find trillions of dollars on insane wars that only make America less safe, we can find ways for the government to pay for healthcare for our children. Instead of investing in killing people overseas, we need to invest in our children and their future.
I agree with Willowbrook - I've worked for two different companies since Obama's healthcare plan passed and in both cases it has had a negative impact on employee plans. Deductibles are higher. Copays are higher. What employees pay in is higher. Everyone is a specialist, so those copays are double. I'm currently on my husband's plan, which is much more reasonable per month, but our deductible is $1000 per person or $3000 family with a 20% required pay from us on anything more than our deductible. We're having our first child soon, so our monthly pay in will nearly double when we add the little one. So far I've seen zero financial benefit to Obama's healthcare plan.
That's exactly what I am saying. People think that since taxpayers pay for it, it must be free right?
*buzzer*
2014 is when we will see the major changes from HCA. Blaming cost increases now on it is ingenious at best. Health care has been increasing in cost for decades, and we need a solution to the constant rising premium prices. HCA begins to address it, but it is not the end-all. As long as health care in the US is for-profit, then it will become unreachable for most citizens.
Single payer now for all US Citizens!!
Single payer and/or nationalistic health care is too close to Communism. If you want to be a Communist go live somewhere else. Love it or leave it! You only have yourself to blame if you can't afford health insurance. Try to stay healthy and not obese and you'll realize that you don't even need health insurance!
Uh....you realize people get in car accidents, get cancer, etc. all through no fault of their own right?
p.s Gabriela - the cost of health care (and taxes) in our State have been major factors why we've lost many employers in our State. We don't have the luxury of moving.
Max108 I think you forgot to add the "r" Marx108...
No Free health care, No Free contraception. Pay as you go people!
Single payer (the ability to buy health insurance from a single insurance pool) is communism?
I guess the Fox propaganda machine really works on some people.
"Try to stay healthy and not obese and you'll realize that you don't even need health insurance!"
Forget about accidents, cancer, genetics, etc. Just put on your rose colored glasses.
Thank you for the dumbest comment of the day.
Hey Flash... make sure the 'pay as you go' principle applies to US government wasting money on useless wars. It is amazing how the 'no welfare state' crowd totally ignores bloated and wastefull defense budget and wars waged on money borrowed from China. Pay as you go, war-mongering people...
I don't like all the premiums, cost-shares, co-pays, and deductibles for our private insurance but it is night-and-day better than the 5 years when we were a military family. I think anyone who believes America should switch to socialized medicine should have to spend several years using military healthcare. No out-of-pocket costs, but long wait lists, no choice whatsoever in the provider you see, referrals to specialists are incredibly difficult to get, very limited selection of approved medications, tests that are routine in the civilian world like a 2nd trimester ultrasound are not done at all, and last but certainly not least, the pay is so terrible that the doctors and nurses are either inexperienced or incompetent (or both). Yes, private health care is expensive but it is a million times better quality than socialized medicine!
@ImoenOfTelengard - yeah b/c none heavy people who have no vices and eat healthy never get sick or end up in the hospital and they never lose coverage because they or they're spouse are also immune to layoffs . ..
Crimson Wife - there are plenty of countries in the world with a very good national healthcare program, and they have a very long history too (German national healthcare system started in late 19th century, for example). What you describe is really a 'bastard' program, where a huge and inefficient military bureaucracy tries to interface with the purely for-profit American medical industry. It is the worst possible combination IMO.
This isn't the government raising rates. This is greedy insurance companies price gouging before new rules start setting limits on it. You don't blame prohibition for poeple drinking and driving, just as it's not the gov't setting the prices on your ins plans. Gov't sets the rules for public safety (and getting healthcare is a public health concern), if you're mad that there's price gouging take it to the comany that sets the rates. NYT just had article about how ins companies are asking for double digit rate increases in spite of record profits.
The USA is indeed fortunate,now that we have Obama in the White House, and,if he loses re-election, we'll have Romney, whose RomneyCare health insurance for all is even better than Obamas, more comprehensive and its already proven to have worked, with 98.5% of Massachusetts residents with coverage.
Prior to Romneycare, parents in Massachusetts, who were unable to obtain health care for their kids, kept the kids home,out of school and hoped they would get well, then when their conditions became life-threatening, they would take the now very sick kids to Emergency Rooms, glutting the places with very sick kids whose care had to come above everyone else in the ER......these were lifesaving situations.
RomneyCare proves to me that Romney practices true Christianity ( also,he favors an increase in the minimum wage)
Let all the conservative Christian supporters of our current free-market health care system sing their praises to
Mammon, er... I mean God. As it clearly states in their interpretation of the Bible, God says that in a truly righteous society profits and a deregulated free market economy are more important than health care for that society's children! If you see a man or child lying beaten & robbed by the side of the road, you should just piss on them and call them a loser who deserved what they got. That's the conservative Christian version of the Good Samaritan.If you think health care is expensive now, wait until it's free! With a double digit percentage increases to everyone's health plan this year, this is a clear indication that Obamacare is completely useless.....
Crisis4ever....I am not sure you are on the money but maybe you are. I thought that most people work to make money so they can provide food and shelter for themselves and their families.
Again, I could be wrong but that was my reason.
....and clothing, and education, and a bit for vacations and little things like birthdays, and auto insurance and homeowners insurance, and a rainy day fund, and to pay taxes....
I have a degree in horticulture (and loved working in a greenhouse) but ended up in accounting, in part because of the availablity of insurance in a M-F 8-5 job.
Instead of wasting money on stupid wars ALL CHILDREN IN AMERICA SHOULD RECEIVE FREE HEALTHCARE!
Here's a thought, Max, why don't their parents pay for their health care? They're paying for their children's clothes, food, video games, etc. It's called parental responsibility.
You want to bring kids into this world? Then you better be able to pay for them. I've never had a problem providing health care to all my kids from the time they were in the womb to adulthood. That includes dental coverage. Not once have I felt entitled to have the government pay for me to raise my kids. If you can't afford them, don't have them. Birth control is cheap. But I suppose you want the government to pay for that too.
@David-1250323 they are paying for their healthcare but insurance premiums are high and one medical disaster can destroy a family's savings because that insurance does not cover everything.
Additionally, families who always lived well within their means are facing significant hardship now because of job loss (all those jobs being sent to Shanghai), so to insinuate they were irresponsible is so beyond the pale it's downright republican of you. I guess you'd prefer they decide not to treat the illness they can't afford and let the family member die as the cost of treatment would blow their budget.
SAICS, do you really believe the crap you write? Where are all the people dying in this country because they don't have health care? It's not happening. We even treat illegal immigrants with no insurance in our hospitals all the time and the rest of us subsidize that through our taxes and insurance premiums. They're certainly not worried about paying the bill for their care. So don't give this line that they don't have access to health care.
People that have lost their job are eligible to continue their health care coverage via COBRA. Yep, it's expensive. Been there, done that. It's a matter of setting priorities and making sacrifices. Too often people aren't will to do either of those things because they feel "entitled".
What's the best answer to this problem: A JOB! If the government wants to help people, they should actually for once do something that creates jobs.....and not just for union members. Having the taxpayers provide health care coverage is just one more excuse not to look for a job. Like crisis4ever stated above, why work? You can sit on your butt and have the rest of us working stiffs pay for your family while we're paying for ours too. Such a deal. And guys like Obama want to make that kind of abuse even more widespread.
We already provide too many things on the taxpayers' dime.
Either we get rid of negative tax returns, and everybody who makes more than the poverty line pays a minimum tax, or we drastically scale back on our handouts.
We can't have a large number of the nation paying in zero or negative amounts in income tax, and then keep increasing social services. It needs to change.
Gee, David, you're just filled with compassion, aren't you?
Yeah, it would be nice if everybody could find a good job with benefits, but a majority of the jobs available these days are minimum wage, part-time, have no benefits, or all of the above.
Sure, COBRA's available for them. So someone lost their job, lost yotheirur employer-subsidized health insurance. They're trying to get by on unemployment, and you tell these people it's an option to fork out $1,800 a month for COBRA coverage. Great idea!
But you're OK with a parent taking a child to the emergency room for what might or might not be a life-threatening illness (now the parent's supposed to be knowledgeable to know which is which) and your tax money and mine will pay for that. And the hospital will bill them at twice the rate the bill insurance companies for the same treatment, then turn the account over to a collection agency.
From you posts is appears that you belong to the "Screw you; I got mine" chool of economics.
David: What's the best answer to this problem: A JOB!
Sorry David I have a job. Blue Cross Blue Shield (which now has a monoply on health insurance in many states) keeps raising their premiums, denying payment (loopholes) and refuses to cover pre existing conditions. The ONLY reason I can not retire now is because (bad as it is) I can NOT afford to be without health insurance. Between health insurance laws & loopholes(passed to favor the corporation not the people) and the rising cost of medication (favor the pharmacutical industry and not the people) my husband and I are between a rock & a hard place.
David - Very well said and AMEN. "Struggle" to use the articles words is the human condition. We Americans have forgotten that. Ask how many of those who say they "Struggle" if they have A/C, a cell phone, cable/satellite TV, etc. And this is why the third world absolutely hates America. We whine and moan about what we don't have and, and how tough we have it while they watch their kids starve to death.
Gee, Severed, when you make erroneous statements like "a majority of the jobs available these days are minimum wage, part-time, have no benefits, or all of the above." it's hard to take you seriously. I don't for one minute believe that "a majority" of jobs available fall into that category.
Obama-care also didn't do a darn thing to bring down health care costs, not even pharmaceuticals. When COBRA is costing $1,800 a month for a family (mine was actually $1,972 a month thanks to the post-Obama-care premium increase), that's the full cost of the insurance that you and your employer normally split the cost of. I managed to deal with it until I found another job. Now my share is $400 a month and my employer picks up the rest. Co-pays are $5-$20 depending on what services or prescriptions you need.
What should be alarming everyone is that health care coverage for a family costs $22,000 a year. For what? Save and invest ten years of those premiums and you could probably self-insure your family for the rest of your life.
Further, they haven't made any serious effort at eliminating the $80 billion a year in Medicare fraud. They haven't cut off the $300 billion in benefits they hand out every year to illegal immigrants. How about the $100 billion we give in aid to foreign countries every year? And I'm tired of walking into hospitals that look like palaces to stroke the egos of doctors instead of using that money on patients. Why don't we apply those funds to our health care system where it will do some good?
If the Washington warmongers can find trillions of dollars on insane wars that only make America less safe, we can find ways for the government to pay for healthcare for our children. Instead of investing in killing people overseas, we need to invest in our children and their future. So many WORKING parents don't have the money for healthcare and education for their kids, while billions of their dollars are flushed down the military toilet EVERY DAY.
Gee, Severed, when you make erroneous statements like "a majority of the jobs available these days are minimum wage, part-time, have no benefits, or all of the above." it's hard to take you seriously. I don't for one minute believe that "a majority" of jobs available fall into that category
You obviously haven't had to take a entry-level job these days.
Well said David!
There is no such thing as FREE healthcare.
And hope that none of your family ever gets sick or is injured during those ten years.
Punish the kids for the parent's mistakes. Great idea. Children should absolutely suffer for not being smart enough to choose better parents. Bet you think kids born into poverty don't deserve an education either.
David, my husband's employer ONLY offers high dedutible (3K) insurance, so yeah, it is possible to have medical bills and pay a premium at the same time. Bring back the old copays, I'd gladly prefer those!
It's a shame our elected leaders find money for foreign aid, and defense contracts, but don't support the voters in their time of need. Look at the veterans, the people who have lost their homes in natural disasters, and foreclosures, and the folks without needed health care. There is something very wrong with our political system.
Malocchio: It breaks my heart that many of the homeless are our Vietnam Vets (or any Vets) They have truly fallen through the cracks. They were willing to fight for this country, came back with MULTIPLE problems (agent orange anyone? PTSS? etc.etc.) and this is how our government thanks them!
Obviously these people need more tax cuts so they can afford to buy insurance on the private market...yes I'm being sacrcastic since the vast majority of people who can't afford decent insurance likely have no tax burden to get relief from so they can you know, buy insurance...
It's the republican solution...don't blame me for how dumb it sounds
Rick, even people with no tax burden end up getting money from the government. Essentially they're paying a negative tax and the rest of us are already subsidizing them in other ways. In addition, if they're that low on the income scale they already get additional aid in the form of public housing or housing assistance, food stamps, and yes, health care coverage.
How do I know all this? Because I have two nieces that thought having a child out of wedlock was a great idea. Not only are all their living expenses covered by the taxpayers, one of them has even tried going to nursing school with the taxpayer paying 100% of it. After three years she decided to drop out. After all, she had no skin in the game.
Oh, somehow she had enough money to buy a new Honda CR-V last year, but is still taking all the subsidies she can get. It's a game to her.
The other niece bellyaches about how tight things are but she can smoke a pack of cigarettes a day and buy booze okay. She's probably buying drugs, too. Now she's thinking about finding another "sperm donor" to have a second kid so she can get even more aid from the taxpayers.
I also like the article on MSN today about the Michigan women who won a million bucks in the lottery, owns two houses, and is still on food stamps. And this b**ch thinks she's entitled to it. That's the entitlement society that idiots like Obama, Pelosi and Reid have created for us.
Hey Rick, people who get Medicaid have better insurance than I do now, thanks to Obamacare. So, what's the incentive to get a job and pay for yourself? I've repeatedly heard folks have stopped looking for a job, because they didn't want to lose their unemployment.....for some this has now gone on for 2 years. The govt. is enabling the entitlement mentality.
I find it interesting how conservatives like David always (and I do mean *always*) have a scrapbook full of anecdotes that conveniently "prove" their case. These anecdotes always involve the same things: expensive cell phones, booze, cigarettes, new cars, and children out of wedlock. There was only one minor difference, and that was his niece buying a new Honda CR-V instead of an Escalade, but it's close enough. The point, though, is that I'm tired of conservatives trotting out this excessively over-used internet meme as a "real" story. It's not real. It's a meme. That's why the details are always the same no matter how many different conservatives tell it.
Recently, though, I've noticed a new phenomenon with this particular meme: conservatives are starting to add on to it like how the "Old Lady Who Lived In A Shoe" story kept adding new things for her to swallow. David's contribution is going to school on the tax payer's dime and dropping out. I expect tens of millions of nieces related to conservatives will be mysteriously dropping out of school now.
And have you ever noticed it's never an immediate family member? LOL! It's always a niece or uncle or in-law. That way the conservative using the anecdotal meme can use it without a) embarrassing him/herself and b) having to take any blame or responsibility for his/her own wife/husband, parents, or children. Convenient, is it not?
Saffy, I was thinking the same thing.
Saffy - You're a dumb a$$
maybe available.....If working is only for food and shelter then why work? A job is suppose to allow for many to have extra left over to save for retirement, pay for college and health care. The elitist 5cum in this country demand it of their families, why not you or I?
Companies and globalization have managed to make all jobs into day labor arrangements or part time while making people work even harder and longer for less. Wages have been stagnant for over 15 years. Why do u think Airbus is making planes to hold 580 people? To herd day laborers all over the world for short term contracts.
GLOBALIZATION and CORPORATE GREED are to blame for this phenomenon.
Hang on though....because 2012 will look like the good ole days in another decade.
How can anyone afford health care with kids. I have a nephew with 3 kids and pays 400 + a week for health care, over 1700 a month. Hes struggling along with help from his parents. My kids are grown but even me paying 550 a month for myself makes it tough. Even worse than that is the providers don't want to pay everything. My sister in law was having pains in her chest and was denied a stress test for the reason pains in the chest are not sufficent reasons for a stress test. After her husband called and asked for two copys of why they would not pay for the test, giving the reason as one for the doctor and one for the lawyer in case she dropped dead they opted to pay for the test.
Well, David's answer is "Don't have kids if you can't afford to feed, clothe, and house them."
I notice he has no advice for the people who already have kids, and now can't afford to feed, clothe, and house them. Maybe he thinks you can just drop your 12-year old off at the closest fire station.
"Compassionate" conservatives my a$$. Talk about an oxymoron!
Another oxymoron is people in that situation that whine about it on the internet. Apparently they can afford enough for a computer and internet access...
Many people in this country need to reevaluate what's really a necessity and what's a desire.
@Ruken
Last time I checked (yesterday afternoon) my public library still had computers with free internet access.
And you need internet access to get a job. My wife went job-hunting at Target and Safeway, for example, and here both will only accept applications on their website.
So yeah, these days I'd say that internet access is pretty much a necessity.
You already got down what I was going to say when you mentioned a library. But of course this tends not to get through to people.

I'm still in school and have been relying on the reasonable rates at the student health center to get by. (Don't accuse me of spending your tax dollars for this, I paid enough tuition to deserve this perk) With graduation looming, I have been looking into health insurance for myself and my fiance, who is self-employed. Basically we can get health care, or we can save up for a house and a family. But if we get the house and the family, we will have to insure those as well, which will put us in the red, so realistically I am coming to accept that house and family simply aren't an option. I have a job offer (it doesn't have benefits, but considering the unemployment rate in my field, I took it anyway), and he does moderately well. Between the two of us, we will be making a decent living. But insurance premiums are insane if you want actual coverage. We could get something much cheaper, but it won't cover anything and the deductible is half of what he makes in a year. I'll probably be "responsible" and get health care and try not to think about kids, but I rather hate the politicians and corporations that put me in a position of having to choose.
Thank you Obamacare.
And stop running stupid lies on msnbc home page about not having lobbyists in the obama administration...Biden just hired another one...
Oh thankyou Pres obama for no lobbyist.Bla,Bla
Democrats + Republicans = $15 Trillion in debt.
40 mllion w/o health care, 50 million on food stamps, 9% unemployment, 16% underemployed, rampant illegal immigration many who are illiterate, no balanced budget in 3 years, Congress sends other families kids to war but never their own.
How can anybody think one party is better than the other? Both are a disgrace!!
Any questions?
crisis4ever - there are not 40 million without health care. Stop spouting Democrat talking points. If that were the case, how come only 50000 have signed up for the Obamacare high risk pool? And I don't think we should count Illegals, and people who refuse to be on their employer sponsored plan either.
How can anyone have a problem with health care now that we have Obamacare.
It isn't fully in effect yet. Many provisions are, but some are not.
But apparently the logic of not breeding when you can't afford it is lost upon some people.
Sure, Obama-care was supposed to fix everything....except it didn't do one thing to actually lower or contain the cost of health care and it stole $500 billion out of the Medicare fund so that seniors will receive sub-standard care.
Only the well off should be allowed to breed, Right? Perhaps being allowed to procreate (breed implies animal husbandry which shows where the trolls are heading with that comment) should be restricted to conservative white Anglo-Saxon protestants making over 300K per year?
Our government is comfortable spending hundreds of billions in supporting the oil industry, defense contractors and petty tyrants they set up after they lay a country to waste, then they can damn well pay a fraction of that to insure American citizens.
This subject always draws trolls to it like flys to dog droppings.
@workingpoor-2370498 no, the conservatives (the real neocons) and the religious right do want to poor folks to breed, it will not only keep them poor & desperate for some fleeting kindness of the feudal patron, it will give them lots of soldiers to send to war so they can protect their precious offspring at home
Part of the solution to high healthcare costs is to allow the purchasing of health insurance across state lines and eliminating items like "end of life counseling" from mandatory inclusion in health care plans. It should be more like auto insurance where there is a base, no-frills coverage, but the ability to add in more coverage for specific items by paying higher premiums. Only true competition can lower costs.
Peter, you are absolutely correct! But what you're suggesting makes far too much sense for most of the fools in Washington to understand or accept.
When our state finally allowed more competition for the auto insurance business, my insurance premiums literally dropped by 50%. What used to cost me $1,200 a year per car is now under $600.
Pete17 - I agree with you on state lines, but also tort reform - most docs practice preventive medicine because they don't want to get sued. They pay tens of thousands of dollars for malpractice insurance because at a moment's notice each doc, their physician practice or practicing hospital could be sued for an inordinate amount (consider "pain and mental suffering.") If Obamacare would have addressed tort reform, that would have actually helped drive down costs. But anyone on this vine who thinks Obamacare is actually more than just another entitlement/welfare program is absolutely kidding themselves. All hell is going to break loose when this thing is implemented. Costs will skyrocket, there will be no primary docs left and most idiots will get what they term as "free" healthcare from the gubmint - which will be akin to going to the doctor at the DMV. Gag. This law is pathetic, as are most dems who support it. SCOTUS had dang well better do their job and shoot it down.
Three trolls in a row. Trifecta?
End of life counseling doesn't add up to a hill of beans cost wise and insurance being confined to the states prevents the worst of insurance industry bad practices.
Want leadership and accountability?
1) Nobody in Congress gets paid unless they balance the budget each and every year.
2) Demand that anybody in Congress that has a family member of age, go to the wars they start. If they like the Iraqi war, then they ought to love it with a family member there.
3) All Presidents(especially Democratic ones) should have their children attend the DC Public School System while serving.
Any questions?
If you think it is bad now wait until Obamacare fully kicks in. It does nothing to control the high and ever rising cost of medical care and the gouging done by the Big 3 (doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies. It does however FORCE you buy health insurance whether you can afford it, want it or not.
You mean Obamakill.
You don't have a clue so you shouldn't be commenting. It will help so many people, unless of course you are in the 1%, then we don't care about you.
Yep, another typical a//hat demorat comment. Amazing.
Care to tell us how Obamacare is going to help us? (chirping crickets.....)
Yea, thought so.
The only thing Obamacare is doing is taking care away from Providers, (people, like myself that pay for my insurance, and through taxes, pay for others) so that Providers don't have the care while the entitlement crew and people who shouldn't even qualify, (like Illegals) will have even more than they have now. But the money won't really go there either. It will be come part of the huge pile of wasted money the govt. squanders each year thru mismanagement, overpayment of their workers and fraud.
willowbrook: Why not throw the aliens into the pot as well. You've dreamed up enough other pure BS that adding aliens to the pot makes as much sense as everything else you've said. People often wonder what kinds of minds can be influenced by simple minded, negative ads, and by golly here you are demonstrating that you have such a mind.
Actually, I think the health insurance reform might help me. I have a small business, and we cannot get affordable health insurance for my family (more than $2000 per month with $10000 deductible). The health insurance reform will allow me to more effectively buy into a pool. Or so they say... :-)
Nothing will change because the rich "A"holes in Washington D.C. and on Wall Street have the best medical care in the world, as well as the best standard of living. These "A" holes have "NO" clue on what is going on in the heart land of America. History proves it over and over that the rich don't give a sh@t about anyone but themselves.
From the Roman Empire, France in the 1700 hundreds, and the slave days in America to the industrial revolution in America....the rich during these times only cared about what they had, and the rest of the population during these times could hardly make a living....just like today.
This is again... is exactly what is going on in America right now. Yes, history does repeat itself. America will never recover from this...and let's call it what it really is dispite what the Wall Street and Washington "A" holes say...this is a depression for the average American with no way out of it!
What we do need in this country like what is happening in many other parts of the world is a revolution type event. What is needed... like what gave France back to the people of France. So, all you Washington idiots, Wall Street greedy bastards, and over paid CEO's....it has come a the time to say....off with your heads. Hey, it worked for the comon folk of France!!!!!
Democrats + Republicans = $15 Trillion in debt.
40 mllion w/o health care, 50 million on food stamps, 9% unemployment, 16% underemployed, rampant illegal immigration many who are illiterate, no balanced budget in 3 years, Congress sends other families kids to war but never their own.
How can anybody think one party is better than the other? Both are a disgrace!!
Any questions?
A little know machine with a very sharp edge set up on the Washington Mall could be the answer to the question....ouch!!!!
Wait a minute! I thought Obamacare was supposed to reduce health care costs. Does this mean the President and the Congress lied to us?
When Rep. Joe Wilson called Obama a liar during the State of the Union address, Joe was the only in that room telling the truth about Obama-care.
What we will see, far too late of course, is that a national health care system is a substantial competitive advantage for nations in the global economy, and health coverage linked to employment is a massive drag on economic growth. Given my libertarian leanings this notion causes significant cognitive dissonance, but the evidence for it is increasingly strong.
The BEST health-care scheme would, in my opinion, be one in which preventative care, catastrophic, and long-term care are covered under a national plan, and in which all other services are market-based. The current "insurance" that people have is monstrously distorting to prices as it puts a third party into every single transaction between producers and consumers, and the only role of that third party is to suck value out of every single transaction. Eliminate that third party (insurance companies with all their overhead, including shareholders who must receive a return, however fraudulent and ill-gotten) and we could have real and meaningful price discovery.
Moreover, a nationally-administered plan frees up corporate resources to be invested in value-producing activities. Costs would be vastly lower (see Germany, Canada, even hyper-padded France) and outcomes would be better. Economic growth would soar.
All of this is of course completely anathema to people who have swallowed the right-wing dogma and who can't or won't engage with any idea that could possibly contradict it (there's that cognitive dissonance problem again). And this is why we will discover it far too late, and America will have fallen further and ever more hopelessly behind the rest of the world.
Wow! I love this idea, and I'm a straight up liberal.
Well put. From a pro-business perspective, it would relieve companies of the burden of providing care. If they want to provide a benefit, to be competitive and attract the best employees, they could provide an “up-level” of service.
A pro-business solution!
Thanks. It seems to make sense from the personal/behavioral standpoint as well. Since people would have to pay for ordinary doctor visits (beyond some kind of co-pay for preventative care), they would likely become smarter consumers. If they're smart, they'd take advantage of the coverage and their own good sense by doing things like quitting smoking, or (heaven forbid) getting some exercise and eating more vegetables to lower their out-of-pocket costs.
Businesses will end up leading the charge for this at some point. They will see that it's not good national policy to allow people to go broke when they become ill; those same people therefore cannot consume those companies' goods and services. Meanwhile, they'll also see that they don't want to operate here if they have to bear the costs of self-insuring and providing subsidized "insurance" to their employees.
This will probably start with businesses just ceasing to offer health coverage to employees except their senior-most executives. I suspect that this is probably coming sooner rather than later, and it may play a part in the culmination of the current crisis cycle sometime around 2020 to 2025 or so. That, of course, is an entirely different story.
This issue has been so ridiculously demagogued (witness many of the comments in this discussion) that it seems no one is capable of actually looking at any relevant policy options. It's a shame - it's really going to kill our competitiveness as a nation, particularly when coupled with so many other issues that have been demagogued to death.
Yep...and the likes of Michel Bachmann and Karen Santorum are setting back and saying what a wonderful healthcare system we have in the US!!!
The title of this article says it all. And you have candidates that are drooling with glee at the thought of repealing Obamacare on day 1. But what is their solution to these people and millions more who cannot afford health care. Nice Christians aren't they?