Column: Health care slipping out of reach

Editor’s note: The following is the opinion of the columnist and should not be considered an endorsement for one candidate or the other.

Prior to the 2006 congressional elections, polls showed the economy topped the list of concerns on voters’ minds — even ahead of the Iraq war. This was at a time when stock prices were surging, the unemployment rate was only 4.4 percent and wages were starting to outpace inflation for the first time in four years.

Why were Americans so jittery about their pocket books at a time of relative economic prosperity? The inflation issue is the primary factor.

While many economists and the media tend to view the jobless rate and the goings-on on Wall Street as bellwethers for the entire economy, such narrow focus is misguided. When evaluating the country’s economic well-being, one shouldn’t simply ask how many jobs are being created; an adjoining inquiry should be “is the economy creating jobs that provide financial stability for its workers?” Most workers would respond with a resounding “no,” for the last several years, especially when wage growth is juxtaposed with the inflation in the prices of essential goods and services, especially health care.

Though already well chronicled, WebMD.com provided a stark reminder of the problem in an article published on the site last week. It showed from 2000 to 2007, health insurance premiums increased nearly 80 percent for employer-sponsored coverage. Those costs rose more than five times faster than did wages, the article said.

The next president must tackle this problem swiftly or it will have a devastating impact on the financial and physical health of the American workforce — especially on its younger members who comprise the largest and fastest-growing segment of the nation’s uninsured population.

A report released in the summer by The Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that 31 percent of the uninsured in America are 19 to 29 years old. The number is growing partly because many young workers are finding employment with small firms that don’t offer health coverage, but also due to voluntary abstention from health programs for financial reasons. Many young adults — being healthy and less susceptible to illness, disease and injury than their older counterparts — believe signing up for employer-based health programs is an unwise investment. These workers refuse to fork over a large (and growing) portion of their incomes to get insured against medical problems that might or might not arise.

If the cost of health insurance continues to increase faster than personal incomes, more young workers are likely to opt out of employer health plans for what they see as pragmatic financial reasons.

It’s a gamble that pays off for some, but has major consequences for others. Those without health insurance who do sustain debilitating injuries or contract illnesses end up paying significant out-of-pocket costs, which often leads to bankruptcy. Enrolling in a health insurance plan for the purpose of treating an existing ailment is not optional because insurers by-and-large don’t cover preexisting conditions.

Now, if you happen to be a person who has health insurance and can comfortably afford it, you might be asking yourself why you should care about the fortunes of the less affluent. The answer is simple: those without health insurance are likely to cost you money. Hospitals are required by federal statute to treat patients who enter emergency rooms for treatment, which is exactly where many uninsured patients go when they incur serious medical problems. Their medical expenses are then passed along to the hospital’s paying customers, since hospitals often have a difficult time getting the uninsured to pay their bills.

Adding insult to injury, those without coverage often go to the ER due to serious medical problems that would be minor if treatment is sought early. But, the uninsured often don’t seek help early because they don’t want to pay the out-of-pocket cost of a visit to the doctor’s office, a problem that wouldn’t exist had they owned insurance.

The best way to tackle this problem would be for the U.S. to adopt a single-payer health insurance system for everyone — like Medicare. But, too many political obstacles — people who castigate universal health care as “socialized medicine”— stand in the way of that becoming a reality.

Sen. Barack Obama offers the best alternative: a plan that subsidizes people’s health care expenses and allows them to shop across state lines for the cheapest insurance. Sen. John McCain’s plan calls for the disbursement of health care tax credits, but also eliminates tax credits to companies that offer insurance plans to their workers.

Previous efforts at improving the affordability of health insurance have been defeated because of fears those proposals would eliminate employer-based insurance. So, Obama’s more liberal plan has proved uncharacteristically palatable to the business community.

Voters who believe health care affordability is the most urgent domestic issue of this election should hope Obama is elected, because a President McCain is unlikely to gain much support for his proposal to fix the problem, — and, make no mistake, it is a major problem. Medical costs are driving too many workers away from insurance and eating away at the budgets of the insured.

Raymond Billy is assistant editor for the Jacksonville Daily Progress. He may be reached at rbilly@jacksonvilleprogress.com.

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