Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 28, 1995 TAG: 9508280113
SECTION: MONEY PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JANE BRYANT QUINN WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Long
Here's what has happened to health coverage since the last presidential campaign:
In 1993, 1 million more Americans joined the ranks of the uninsured, the Census Bureau says. That brought the total number to 40.9 million - 18.1 percent of the population under 65. Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, Calif., said he believes another 1 million lost their insurance in 1994.
A portion of these people were uninsured for only part of the year, because they were between jobs. But during that time, some contracted illnesses that they couldn't afford. Some became uninsurable because their illness was so bad.
But joblessness is a small part of the problem. Fully 84 percent of the uninsured are workers (or members of their families) who have full- or part-time jobs, Altman says.
Around half a million more of the poor became uninsured in 1993. That was 11.5 million people, and that number has doubtlessly risen since.
These uninsured are overwhelmingly low-income people who have jobs. Their earnings disqualify them from Medicaid, yet they get no coverage at work. Around half of the working poor have no health insurance, compared with only one-quarter of the non-working poor.
Among adults, the age group with the least coverage is young people 18 to 24. Around 27 percent had no health insurance in 1993. A small percentage of the young go bare by choice, counting on their youth and good health to see them through. Others want coverage but earn too little to afford it.
Contrast their situation with the best-covered age group, people 65 and up. Thanks to taxpayer-supported Medicare, only 1.2 percent of the elderly are uninsured.
nFewer workers have health insurance, in both large companies and small ones. Dallas Salisbury, president of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, attributes this to the rising number of part-time employees who get no benefits.
Company-paid benefits for the spouses and children of workers are going the way of the dodo bird. Fewer than 20 percent of employers provide for families, compared with 54 percent 15 years ago, Salisbury says. Family coverage is usually available, but the employee has to pay - and many think they can't afford it.
At small companies, where most of the uninsured workers cluster, nothing at all suggests a change. Around 39 percent of firms with fewer than 25 employees cover their workers today, proving that it can be done. But the rest find the cost too great.
On all fronts, then, health-insurance protection has declined. Yet it's no longer a matter of urgent public concern. Back when President Clinton and Congress were talking about reforming the system, the news media sought out stories about people whose lives, incomes and savings had been ruined for lack of health insurance. Now, that's old news. Nobody cares.
Today's popular stories detail the need to cut federal spending, with Medicaid high on the list. That may add tens of thousands more to the legions of the uninsured.
The uninsured do get a certain amount of medical care, principally in hospital emergency rooms. But they see doctors less often than the rest of us, are more apt to need hospitalization for illnesses that could have been treated at home, go to the hospital in worse shape than insured people do, and die there more often. The cost of this care comes partly from taxes and partly from higher medical bills for everyone else.
As hospital budgets come under more pressure, the uninsured will almost certainly get even less care. But the shaky consensus for health reform that was building in 1993 appears to have died with the Clinton plan. Millions more may lose their health security before that chance will come again.
``There are more and more uninsured people who are attached to a working adult,'' says Debra Lipson, associate director of the non-profit Alpha Center in Washington, D.C., which analyzes health care issues.
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Jane Bryant Quinn welcomes letters on money issues and problems but cannot offer individual financial advice.
(c) 1995, Washington Post Writers Group
AP-NY-08-18-95 1418E
|By JANE BRYANT QUINN| |WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP|
NEW YORK - Two years ago, President Clinton introduced his plan for universal health insurance. Not only was it buried by the opposition. It vanished from the radar screen as a political issue - proving, once again, that media interest follows the election returns.
Here's what has happened to health coverage since the last presidential campaign:
nIn 1993, 1 million more Americans joined the ranks of the uninsured, the Census Bureau says. That brought the total number to 40.9 million - 18.1 percent of the population under 65. Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, Calif., said he believes another 1 million lost their insurance in 1994.
A portion of these people were uninsured for only part of the year, because they were between jobs. But during that time, some contracted illnesses that they couldn't afford. Some became uninsurable because their illness was so bad.
But joblessness is a small part of the problem. Fully 84 percent of the uninsured are workers (or members of their families) who have full- or part-time jobs, Altman says.
nAround half a million more of the poor became uninsured in 1993. That was 11.5 million people, and that number has doubtlessly risen since.
These uninsured are overwhelmingly low-income people who have jobs. Their earnings disqualify them from Medicaid, yet they get no coverage at work. Around half of the working poor have no health insurance, compared with only one-quarter of the non-working poor.
nAmong adults, the age group with the least coverage is young people 18 to 24. Around 27 percent had no health insurance in 1993. A small percentage of the young go bare by choice, counting on their youth and good health to see them through. Others want coverage but earn too little to afford it.
Contrast their situation with the best-covered age group, people 65 and up. Thanks to taxpayer-supported Medicare, only 1.2 percent of the elderly are uninsured.
nFewer workers have health insurance, in both large companies and small ones. Dallas Salisbury, president of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, attributes this to the rising number of part-time employees who get no benefits.
Company-paid benefits for the spouses and children of workers are going the way of the dodo bird. Fewer than 20 percent of employers provide for families, compared with 54 percent 15 years ago, Salisbury says. Family coverage is usually available but the employee has to pay - and many feel they can't afford it.
At small companies, where most of the uninsured workers cluster, nothing at all suggests a change. Around 39 percent of firms with fewer than 25 employees cover their workers today, proving that it can be done. But the rest find the cost too great.
On all fronts, then, health-insurance protection has declined. Yet it's no longer a matter of urgent public concern. Back when President Clinton and Congress were talking about reforming the system, the news media sought out stories about people whose lives, incomes and savings had been ruined for lack of health insurance. Now, that's old news and nobody cares.
Today's popular stories detail the need to cut federal spending, with Medicaid high on the list. That may add tens of thousands more to the legions of the uninsured.
The uninsured do get a certain amount of medical care, principally in hospital emergency rooms. But they see doctors less often than the rest of us, are more apt to need hospitalization for illnesses that could have been treated at home, go to the hospital in worse shape than insured people do, and die there more often. The cost of this care comes partly from taxes and partly from higher medical bills for everyone else.
As hospital budgets come under more pressure, the uninsured will almost certainly get even less care. But the shaky consensus for health reform that was building in 1993 appears to have died with the Clinton plan. Millions more may lose their health security before that chance will come again.
by CNB