The latest estimates from the US Census Bureau indicate that the number of uninsured Americans has increased from 44.8 million in 2005 to roughly 47 million last year.
According to Karen Davis, Ph.D., President, The Commonwealth Fund, “This increase of 2.2 million- a jump of 5 percent- is the largest one-year increase in the number of uninsured since 2002.”
In 2002, more than 18,000 deaths among Americans have been blamed on lack of insurance and proper health care.
Last year also represents a 0.3% increase in just one year for the number of people living without a health insurance, from the 15.3 percent registered in 2005 to 15.8 in 2006. The good news is that the number of people living in the US with a health insurance also increased last year with more than 800,000, from the 249.0 million in 2005 to 249.8 million in 2006.
The Census Bureau added that in 2006, the number of people covered by private health insurance (201.7 million) and the number of people covered by government health insurance (80.3 million) were not statistically different from 2005.
The vulnerable aspect of health insurance for children under 18 is getting a “glorious” come-back after President Bush’s decision to veto a bill that would have reduced the number of uninsured children by 4.1 million. The Bureau estimated that the population of children not covered by a health insurance grew last year from 8.0 million/10.9 percent respectively, in 2005, to 8.7 million in 2006/11.7 percent- “an increase of 9 percent in one year alone” according to Karen Davis. With an uninsured rate in 2006 at 19.3 percent, children in poverty were more likely to be uninsured than all children.
Davis said that “If not for coverage through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), even more children would be without coverage. Since 2000, Medicaid and SCHIP provided an additional 5 million children with health coverage.”
SCHIP covered 6.9 million children at some point during Federal fiscal year 2006, and every state has an approved plan. In 2007, researchers from Brigham Young University and Arizona State found that children who drop out of SCHIP cost states more money because they shift away from routine care to more frequent emergency care situations. The conclusion of the study is that an attempt to cut the costs of a state program could create a false savings because other government organizations pick up the tab for the children who leave SCHIP and later need care.
In a 2007 analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, researchers determined that "for every 100 children who gain coverage as a result of SCHIP, there is a corresponding reduction in private coverage of between 25 and 50 children." The CBO speculates this is because the state programs offer better benefits and lower cost than the private alternatives. The program cost $40 billion federal dollars over 10 years.
“One immediate action Congress could take is reauthorization of SCHIP, which is essential to prevent a reversal of the progress made through public health insurance programs over the last six years,” said Davis.” The SCHIP reform bills currently in Congress are an unprecedented opportunity to expand coverage and improve the quality of care for all of us, but they are only a beginning. These proposals are no substitute for the comprehensive national strategy and leadership needed to ensure that all Americans have access to high-quality, safe, and efficient health care.”
In the US, the percentage of people covered by employment-based health insurance decreased to 59.7 percent in 2006, from 60.2 percent in 2005, according to the Census Bureau. The percentage of people covered by government health programs decreased to 27.0 percent in 2006 from 27.3 percent in 2005, while the percentage and the number of people covered by Medicaid were statistically unchanged at 12.9 percent and 38.3 million, respectively, in 2006.
Currently the United States invest between $1.4 trillion and $1.6 trillion in the healthcare system yearly, healthcare costs representing 15%- approximately a seventh- of our total gross domestic product. Our annual cost per capita, $4,662.00, is nearly double that of health care in other countries. For those amounts of money, the US citizens should definitely enjoy the best health services in the world. But just as Michel Moore suggested in his recent SiCKO documentary, things are not at all like that.
The World Health Organization has put us on the 37th place in a top of world’s best healthcare systems, with France ranking first and countries like Morocco, Cyprus and Chile ahead of us. Statistics for the year 2002 reveal that at least 36 countries beat us in infant survival. We experienced 6.69 infant deaths for every 1000 live births. A baby born in the U.S.A. in 2001 had a life expectancy of 77.26 years. A child born in Macau at the same time could expect to live to the ripe old age of 83.47 years.
Each year between 6,000 and 9,000 people die of treatment injuries and prescriptions received from their doctor at his office. Even more alarming are the risks once you are admitted to a hospital. Conservative estimates show that between 98,000 and 140,000 patients die in U.S. hospitals each year from accidental injuries, medication errors, and adverse drug reactions. Doctors' sloppy handwriting kills more than 7,000 people annually, while preventable medication mistakes also injure more than 1.5 million Americans each year. And that is even more worrying considering that Hospital and doctor visits in the United States have surged by 20 percent in the past five years, while the most commonly prescribed medications are antidepressants. Add to that the fact that the number of hospitals and physicians has not increased by the same percent in the same period…
Davis, speaking about the recent Census report, concluded: “This news is very disturbing. It means more Americans are going without needed care or facing crushing financial bills. Lack of insurance undermines the quality of care, as the uninsured fail to receive preventive care and cannot afford to take the medications that would keep their chronic conditions under control. And it undermines the health and productivity of our workforce and the strength of our economy.”
