More than 40 percent of Americans making between $20,000 and $40,000 a year went without insurance for at least part of the year last year, according to a study published on Tuesday. The research by The Commonwealth Fund also found that 20 percent of working adults are paying off medical debt -- often $2,000 or more -- and 60 percent of uninsured adults with chronic illnesses such as heart disease skip pills to save money. The Commonwealth Fund researchers called the 40 percent figure a "dramatic and rapid increase from 2001," when 28 percent of people in this moderate income bracket were uninsured. The group, which does the survey every other year, also found that 67 percent of the 48 million going without insurance were in families where at least one person worked full-time. "The jump in uninsured among those with modest incomes is alarming, particularly at a time when our economy has been improving," said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis, who helped write the study. "If we don't act soon to expand coverage to the uninsured, the health of the U.S. population, the productivity of our workforce, and our economy are at risk." The Fund, a private research group focusing on health care issues, surveyed more than 4,000 people by telephone for the report. It found that people without health insurance were more likely to go without recommended cancer, cholesterol and blood pressure screenings. For instance, 18 percent of adults aged 50 to 64 who lack insurance had a colon cancer screening in the past five years compared to 56 percent of insured adults. "For an uninsured person who is unlucky enough to get sick, it is easy to see how quickly they can fall into a downward spiral of debt, forgone care, and poorer health," Sara Collins, Commonwealth Fund senior program officer, said in a statement. The study found that 21 percent of the adults surveyed between August and January had unpaid medical bills. More than a third said they either had medical bill problems in the past year or were paying off medical debt. Of these, more than 60 percent were insured. Several reports on people who lack insurance in the United States have shown that they do not have to regular doctors and often rely on emergency care, which in turn drives up costs. The Commonwealth survey found that 35 percent of uninsured adults with chronic conditions visited an emergency room in 2005, stayed in the hospital overnight, or both, compared to 16 percent of patients with a chronic condition who were steadily insured. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060425...EjZfG.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ- --------------------------------------------------- Don't worry guys! I'm sure this a bogus, lefty-liberal report! After all, the economy is booming and it's never been better for middle class america!!
Simple explanation: 1)Make it favorable for a few health-care businesses...HMO Act. Although it's been rescinded, it greatly reduced competition. Bipartisan effort. 2)Import poverty by the millions. Poverty is steadily reducing in almost every race in America. So the 'political solution' is to maintain a left-voting population of poor and dependant people...get many from central and south america. Give amnesty if necessary. Bipartisan effort. 3)Refuse to massively immigrate educated doctors and those with high medical knowledge to counteract medical inflation. Mostly a dem thing...because educate people don't usually vote left (unless it's a repub anti-vote). 4)By law forbid many methods that could improve the healthcare choses and flexiblity. Regulation, regulation, regulation...Bipartisan None if the above existed in the early 50's, and healthcare at that point in time was readily available and not expensive.
I think you missed the point of yo-yo's post. He's a great american here. He's spotted a trouble spot in our economy, and obviously, since he is so concerned that so many americans are without health insurance, that's he is willing to help them cover their bills. What a great guy.
I don't even have insurance, and I make a good amount over the $40,000 mark ( thank god I haven't needed a hospital or doctor in years ). The point of the post was to get an explanation as to why some say our economy is so good, yet 40 percent of this middle class can't afford any insurance (and are in medical debt).
I come from a family that has been injured in many bad accidents. I figure it's my responsibility to make sure I'm always insured, even if I have little money at the time. Without it, your far worse off. Most people could pay roughly 200 a month for general medical. Everyone should atleast do that.
yo-yo isn't looking for answers. He's looking to demogague. The above post makes the point I was trying to make earlier.
In most cases it's young adults...but without medical insurance for your/someones children that kid is as good as dead if they have serious medical problems. So while I understand the importance of shelter and food...I think health is up there as well. That's why many people I know get the money in the city, and move to the small towns. Cost of living for them changes and helps.
This is a new phenomenon that has only started taking place during yo-yo's adult life...the past three years. Prior to Bush, everyone had health insurance, Clinton gave out $80k jobs to everyone and any sick person in America could go to the finest doctors for free medical care. Gasoline was free, free milk was dispensed through the public water lines into every home, and everyone was guaranteed a personal lawn care professional at the government's expense. There were no taxes, OBL's picture was garnished with fresh roses in every school classroom across America and how could we all forget, the subsidized free Slurpees at 7/11s? My oh my, how the times have changed, when one must take personal responsibility for their own success in life. How cruel is that? We deserve everything, free, delivered on a silver platter and there should never be any hardships for anyone to work towards to overcome. Everyone deserves their own "easy button" in life /sarc
Really...there's sarcasm in that? Here's a rundown. The Clinton administration: 1. Did not follow-up on the attempted bombing of Aden marines in Yemen. 2. Shut the CIA out of the 1993 WTC bombing investigation, hamstringing their effort to capture bin Laden. 3. Had Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a key bin Laden lieutenant, slip through their fingers in Qatar. 4. Did not militarily react to the al Qaeda bombing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 5. Did not accept the Sudanese offer to turn bin Laden. 6. Did not follow-up on another offer from Sudan through a private back channel. 7. Objected to Northern Alliance efforts to assassinate bin Laden in Afghanistan. 8. Decided against using special forces to take down bin Laden in Afghanistan. 9. Did not take an opportunity to take into custody two al Qaeda operatives involved in the East African embassy bombings. In another little scoop, I am able to show that Sudan arrested these two terrorists and offered them to the FBI. The Clinton administration declined to pick them up and they were later allowed to return to Pakistan. 10. Ordered an ineffectual, token missile strike against a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory. 11. Clumsily tipped off Pakistani officials sympathetic to bin Laden before a planned missile strike against bin Laden on August 20, 1998. Bin Laden left the camp with only minutes to spare. 12-14. Three times, Clinton hesitated or deferred in ordering missile strikes against bin Laden in 1999 and 2000. 15. When they finally launched and armed the Predator spy drone plane, which captured amazing live video images of bin Laden, the Clinton administration no longer had military assets in place to strike the archterrorist. 16. Did not order a retaliatory strike on bin Laden for the murderous attack on the USS Cole.
Oops, my bad! I knew he issues with delusions, but I had no idea it was at such an advanced stage I guess there's no level left that he won't stoop to.
Are you serious? I hope for your own sake you're not. If the "millenium jackal" wasn't here prior to Bush then how was he organizing fighters in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union...Oh say...in the 1980's.
Dear yo-yo, Have you ever in your life, if just for a moment, think to yourself, "Hmm, maybe this country isn't so bad and lousy as I keep saying it is, after all"? All I ever see from you is threads about how awful and bad and evil America and Americans are. I don't get it. Where does all this hatred of your country come from? Do you not want to live here? Is someone forcing you to live here? It's ironic that the hot topic nowadays seems to be illegal immigration, because there's a few million Mexicans who would gladly switch places with you, and be grateful for what they have, for the opportunities this country allows them. And here you go again, starting yet another thread that tries to convince people (and doing a good job of convincing the non-Americans out there) about how awful and evil your country is. I don't get it, man. Why do you do it? Is this country so awful? Why do you hate it so? The thing is, I'm sad for you, man. I know people who risk life and limb to get here and all you ever do is bitch and moan about how awful of a country America is. Not once have I seen you talk about the benefits this country affords you. Every thread is about how America is ruining the world, how awful it is to live here; you remind me of the old saying, "With friends such as these..." If you were a bigger man, you would pick up and move to another country you don't find so vile and offensive. But you don't. Says something about your convictions, doesn't it?
If no one speaks out, and no one is aware - then problems never have a chance of being fixed. I could lie to myself, and pretend like everything is peachy, as Mia or Gtech do... What benefits? The benefit to get taxed? The benefit to get your job outsourced? The benefit of having NO benefits? That's a problem that I'm working on a solution for. First I have to find countries it would be safe to move to (there's a lot that aren't since Americans are very hated in many countries). Out of that safety list, I then need to find ones that aren't as terrible as here, which is no easy task. But rest assured, after I find one - I will happily be gone.
Or you could lie and make up problems that don't exist. Seems like that's your preference. Oh, the doom and gloom! Everyone pays taxes, though you pay lower taxes under Bush. My guess is, you probably don't make enough to pay taxes in the first place. Heh, looks like America is not as bad as you are always bad mouthing it for. Let's see, you have to make a list of countries where it's safe to move (because your safety is paramount, something you take for granted living here). Then you have to narrow the list down to ones that aren't as terrible as here, which is no easy task. In other words, you won't be moving any time soon ROFL, you simply have no idea how good you have it! It's no wonder either, it was all given to you on a silver platter! Better men and women than you will ever be, gave their lives so you could sit around and cry like a little baby about how bad life has treated you. Awwww, someone needs to change their pampers and take a nap
To come to Yo-yo's defense. He is as frustrated about what is going on in this country as most Americans today feel that we are all heading in the wrong direction on so many different levels. Just honestly ask yourselves one simple questions. Do you all with safer, better and more secure today than say 6 years ago? Ask that question to yourself and try to be honest with yourself, leave your ideologies aside alongside with your pride.
I am sorry but as a person who just came from six year of being disabled after being in a bad car wreck .. I agree , we need some medical reforms in the USA. Medical treatment should be for the privaliged but for all. now I am not blaming anyone for this as there is no easy solution for this. But I can tell you that my mother lost everything paying for my medical treatments because my insurance company denied responsibility. In time we lost everything and my mother ended up picking up our bills and medical costs. I think that a great country that is supposed to be the most powerful country in the world has the worst medical care for the needy or lower middle class people in the world - I have lived in Norway and Sweden and their mediucal care is awesome compared to the USA
Exactly. It's not just one or two things either. We've seen big government do nothing but expand, invade personal lives, invade privacy, trample civil rights, and continually increase spending. All the while we've managed to find ourselves in two unpopular wars we can't pay for nor have a solution for. Jobs are being outsourced, the middle class is shrinking, personal debt is rising and savings are decreasing. And thats not even a quarter of the list!
I sympathize for you occurence, but I believe your remedy is flawed. Canada, the shining light of centralized medicine is good if you have medical visits, and general medicine...but if you have anything serious, you have to wait in line. A court in Quebec recently ruled that people should be allowed to get private care, because when the public institution fail, the should have some means of helping themselves. That's the anti-view...now the pro... We went through a massive regulation phase from the late sixties onward. We went from a situation where doctors came to your house and medical costs were relatively cheap, to being highly inflationary. *First of all we give special treatment to a relative few corporations, thus essentially subsidizing certain businesses and prevent true competition. * The beaucracy of getting medicine approved in america is a back-breaking billion dollars for each new drug...and they essentially can rescind the drug at any point. *The senior citizens centralization called medicare is about to fissile out, and needs to be let go. *There's laws preventing insurance agencies from dealing with customers in unique manners which have proven to very helpful and popular ie only some people can access these solutions. We are said to have more regulation than Canada and we're the private economy!? I want the medical field to freed, and there should be no favors towards anyone. This is how the medical field was once cheap and accessible, previous to the drastic change. Anyways, we virtually would have to give-up our military (similiar to Canada), and still pay slightly more in taxes....so no thanks.