In all the political rhetoric in this election year, one domestic issue that seems to get a lot of coverage is the supposed catastrophe in the health care system, specifically the number of people without health insurance. Democrats and Republicans have proposed several alternatives to improve health care, from tweaking or reforming the current system to replacing it completely with a taxpayer-funded universal coverage system.
But before Americans allow the government to encroach upon their personal rights and responsibilities, some facts should be discussed about the current health care system. There is no crisis of uninsured, and the problems that do exist are largely due to state and federal policies that plague the system.
According to the Census Bureau, there are 44.9 million Americans who lack health insurance. This translates to 15.6 percent of the population, the same as in 1996. What most media reports left out was that more people have health insurance today than ever before.
One significant problem with the 44.9 million uninsured is how the Census Bureau got the information. In its survey, the Bureau records how many people did not have insurance at any time in the previous year. That means someone who changed jobs and had a temporary lapse in insurance is treated the same as someone who couldn't afford insurance all year long. According to the Pacific Research Institute, a public policy research organization, "three-quarters of the uninsured remain so for less than a year."
Also, the Census Bureau appears to have trouble counting the number of people on Medicaid who don't qualify as uninsured. According to the Bureau, 35 million people used Medicaid in 2003. However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that 53 million people had received Medicaid assistance. This means the Census Bureau is counting people with Medicaid as uninsured, which creates an inaccurate picture of the situation.
A common misconception is that people without health insurance lack health care. Even without considering community health clinics and charities, this is not the case. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, there are more than 40 federal health care programs to help people in need, and as many as 14 million people who qualify have not enrolled in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Programs. Furthermore, it is against the law for hospitals to refuse emergency treatment to anyone, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. As long as there is free health care, one can expect there will always be some people who are uninsured.
According to Sally Pipes, CEO of Pacific Research Institute, doctors spend an average of three hours per week treating patients for free, and hospitals contribute $21 billion worth of services to those who can't pay. In fact, Pipes states that uninsured patients of hospitals only pay 9 percent of what their treatment costs.
Even if the Census report were accurate, there are some people who don't want or need health insurance. According to Investor's Business Daily, one out of three uninsured individuals has a household income of $50,000, and one in seven has a household income of $75,000 or more. Surprisingly, more people in this income range are losing or refusing insurance than those who make less. Half of the uninsured are under 35, and half of those are under 24. Twenty percent of uninsured workers offered group insurance declined it. In many cases, these are people who don't want health insurance because they would rather spend their money on other things, or they don't believe they will be sick often enough to justify the expense.
Ironically, some of the high cost of health insurance can be attributed to bad policies that state and federal governments force on insurance providers and employers. One such policy that should be reviewed is compelling insurance companies to cover certain treatments or conditions. Not all of these mandates are bad, but one study found that premiums rose by 13 percent, partly because of one-size-fits-all mandates, such as requiring men to pay for insurance that included breast cancer treatments, or forcing women's insurance to cover prostate exams. The Health Insurance Association of America stated that these policies could have caused 10 million people not to have health insurance, many being employees of small businesses.
Most would agree that citizens have a moral obligation to help those in need, especially when they get sick. Expanding outdated government programs that encourage people to remain uninsured and preserving inefficient and impractical policies should not be the solution. A universal coverage system that forces taxpayers to pay for the health care of alcoholics, smokers and other people who don't want to take care of themselves is not the answer either.
Reducing the number of uninsured Americans is a goal that can be accomplished by not penalizing employees who want to pay for private insurance and by offering tax credits to individuals and families. Common sense suggests that this should be attempted before citizens cede more of their rights to the government.
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