Group health insurance
One of the hottest political debates currently going on in this country is that of health care reform. Specifically, the issue is whether the government should manage a national program of health coverage similar to plans that are in place in countries like Canada and Great Britain. Driving this issue is a statistic that forty seven million Americans can not afford health insurance and, as a result, they are without it. The question that remains is, are there really that many Americans without health insurance?
This is a complex issue so it must be analyzed in smaller and more manageable parts. How many Americans are not insured? A 2007 Census Bureau report found that 85% of the population or almost 255 million Americans were covered by individual or group health insurance. The remainder, around 45 million, is the group that the government is trying to help. There are a lot of uninsured people but is it as bad as it appears?
The situation may not be as bleak as the number portray. According to the same Census Bureau report, more than ten million of the forty five million uninsured people were not citizens of the United States. Another eighteen million people that are uninsured are in the age group of thirty four years old or younger. However, for many in this group, despite having health insurance options offered to them, many have chosen not to accept the insurance. For this age group, health insurance simply is not a high priority.
Proponents of government health care often respond that the costs are too high and many Americans simply can not afford it. While this may be true in some cases, the Census Bureau reported that there are over fourteen million American making over $50,000 per year that do not carry insurance. Could these people afford health insurance?
Still, there is another group that has access to health insurance but has chosen not to take advantage of it. There is another estimated fourteen million Americans that are entitled to government backed assistance, like Medicare, but have not enrolled in any of the programs. The statistics indicate that a lot of eligible people are not taking advantage of available health care options.
Despite the many Americans who are not taking advantage of health care, there are many others who are. According to statistics from the National Conference of State Legislatures, the number of people who were covered by health insurance is increasing in this country. From 2006 to 2007, the number of insured increased by more than five million people so the trend is that more people are finding ways to secure insurance.
Despite all of the facts, numbers, and reports, there is one statistic that is hard to calculate. Of the forty five million uninsured people, portions of this number are people who are in transition. It is those people who have lost their insurance, perhaps from a job loss or they are simply changing carriers, but are in the process of getting reinsured. This number is constantly changing and is hard to figure in with the rest of the uninsured.
Without a doubt, there are too many Americans who aren’t insured or can’t afford to be insured and this is a tragic statistic. However, the available data must be examined and it’s authenticity validated.