Universal Healthcare

My statistics came from many sites. To understand the importance of Universal Healthcare, you have to understand the impact being uninsured has on people. Consider the following facts:

• The United States spends nearly $100 billion per year to provide uninsured residents with health services, often for preventable diseases or diseases that physicians could treat more efficiently with earlier diagnosis (14).
• Hospitals provide about $34 billion worth of uncompensated care a year (14).
• Another $37 billion is paid by private and public payers for health services for the uninsured and $26 billion is paid out-of-pocket by those who lack coverage (14).
• The uninsured are 30 to 50 percent more likely to be hospitalized for an avoidable condition, with the average cost of an avoidable hospital stayed estimated to be about $3,300 (14).
• The increasing reliance of the uninsured on the emergency department has serious economic implications, since the cost of treating patients is higher in the emergency department than in other outpatient clinics and medical practices (11).

In my book, I also discuss the impact being uninsured has on children. Here is supporting evidence:

Regardless of age, race, ethnicity, income or health status, uninsured children were much less likely to have received a well-child checkup within the past year. One study shows that nearly 50 percent of uninsured children did not receive a checkup in 2003, almost twice the rate (26 percent) for insured children (12)

Finally, the statistics on who is uninsured is staggering. Consider the following facts:

• Nearly 47 million Americans, or 16 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2005, the latest government data available (1).
• The number of uninsured rose 1.3 million between 2004 and 2005 and has increased by almost 7 million people since 2000 (1).
• The large majority of the uninsured (80 percent) are native or naturalized citizens (2).
• The increase in the number of uninsured in 2005 was focused among working age adults. The percentage of working adults (18 to 64) who had no health coverage climbed from 18.5 percent in 2004 to 20.5 percent in 2005 -- an increase of over 800,000 uninsured workers (1). Nearly one (1) million full-time workers lost their health insurance in 2005.
• Nearly 82 million people – about one-third of the population below the age of 65 spent a portion of either 2002 or 2003 without health coverage (3).

The research was based on:

1. DeNavas-Walt, C.B. Proctor, and C.H. Lee. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005. U.S. Census Bureau., August 2006.
2. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The Uninsured: A Primer, Key Facts About Americans without Health Insurance. October 2006
3. Families USA. One in Three: Non-elderly Americans Without Health Insurance in 2002-2003, July 2004
4. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Employee Health Benefits: 2006 Annual Survey. 26 September 2006.
5. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Number of Uninsured Americans is at an All-Time High. 29 August 2006
6. Clemens-Cope, Lisa, et al, Changes in Employees' Health Insurance Coverage, 2001-2005, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, October 2006.
7. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The Uninsured: A Primer, Key Facts About Americans without Health Insurance. January 2006.
8. Hewitt Associates LLC. Health Care Expectations: Future Strategy and Direction 2005. 17 November 2004.
9. Dalrymple, M., "Senators Seek Tax Credit for Unemployed." Associated Press, 9 October 2003.
10. Institute of Medicine. Insuring America's Health – Principles and Recommendations. The National Academies Press, 2004.
11. Institute of Medicine. Care Without Coverage – Too Little, Too Late. The National Academies Press, 2002.
12. The Urban Institute. Key Findings from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey. 9 August 2004.
13. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Access to Care for the Uninsured: An Update. 29 September 2003.
14. Institute of Medicine. Hidden Costs, Values Lost: Uninsurance in America. The National Academies Press. 17 June 2003.

For additional support Google NCHC for additional facts on health insurance coverage.