A new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection has found that one in five Americans has been uninsured at some point since January of 2008. That adds up to nearly 60 million of Americans without affordable health insurance. 11% of the U.S. population have continuously lacked health insurance for over a year. The National Center for Health Statistics based these numbers on over 32,000 responses.
There are several factors causing the increase in this nation’s uninsured population. Among them is the unemployment rate, which has risen during this recession: it is currently at 10%. For decades, America’s health insurance system has been tied to employment. Companies have provided insurance under a group policy to their employees as an additional benefit, a holdover from the World War II era and its wage controls. Labor unions have also used health care as a bargaining chip to provide more comprehensive benefits to their members. This system was mostly successful for awhile, but typically fails during times of economic strife. COBRA is a federal law which allows former employees to continue buying into their ex-employer’s plan; however, the unsubsidized premiums do not make for affordable health insurance. The average cost of a COBRA policy can eat up almost three quarters of a laid-off person’s unemployment benefits.
Although Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently claimed that the recession is over, the job market is still taking awhile to recover. Positions are scarce, and many of those available are menial, low-wage jobs without health benefits. Employees who have kept their jobs are increasingly seeing their hours cut back to part-time status, making them ineligible for the employer-sponsored plan. There is also a growing trend of people cobbling together several part-time or temporary jobs to make ends meet, while not racking up enough hours at one company to qualify for health insurance. Meanwhile, much of the recent hiring is coming from small businesses often unable to afford a small group health insurance policy. Affordable health insurance can be difficult to find on the individual market. That option may be closed entirely to individuals with pre-existing conditions.
Democrats in Congress have been accused of neglecting the unemployment crisis in favor of healthcare reform. These statistics, however, show that the two are related. Experts also claim that the dearth of affordable health insurance has been stifling American ingenuity and innovation. More people are holding onto unsuitable positions because they need the health insurance, as opposed to moving to smaller companies or starting their own businesses to make better use of their talents. Presumably, changing how the U.S. receives health insurance may help stimulate the economy through investment. If health insurance was more affordable, people would also have more money in their pockets. That cash–which would have otherwise been spent on either premiums or hospital bills (for the uninsured who have avoided earlier, cost-effective preventative care)–would then be able to jump start consumer spending, which is the primary driver of the U.S. economy.
Who is going without affordable health insurance coverage? Unsurprisingly, two thirds are unemployed adults. Young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 are also likely to be uninsured. While a significant portion of that demographic may willingly forgo coverage because of the false belief that they are invincible, many of them appreciate the necessity of having insurance. Quite a few graduated high school or college in the midst of a difficult job market. Those who have health insurance through their parents’ employers may lose it if their mother or father is laid off. Unlike children under 18, they are ineligible for the government’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, but most of them are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.
Men are also more likely than women to go without health insurance, although policies tend to be more expensive for the latter. Some of that discrepancy may be due to a tendency towards recklessness, but the bulk of it is probably due to the fact that male workers have been disproportionately affected by the recession. Male-dominated industries, such as auto manufacturing and finance, have seen severe losses. A handful of employers may also be deciding to downsize the most well-paid employees; since the average woman still has a lower salary, letting go of some male employees may reduce overhead. In addition, the Hispanic population is suffering from a lack of affordable health insurance. Many Latinos and Latinas work in low-paid service industry jobs sans benefits. The situation is even worse for undocumented immigrants; if an employer is paying wages under the table, it is doubtful that he or she would then offer insurance to their illegal immigrant employees.
In total, it turns out that about 20% of the population under the age of 64 is covered by some government-run health insurance program. This figure excludes traditional Medicare, though it does include younger individuals with disabilities who are on the plan. It looks as though a so-called public option is relatively effective for many Americans; it is working especially well for children. Only slightly over 8% of kids under 18 years old were uninsured, with the rest increasingly covered by subsidized affordable health insurance options like SCHIP. Many parents are also willing to sacrifice their own insurance in order to cover premiums for their children.
(Image: clementine gallot under CC 2.0)