Report: Uninsured Cost Families Extra $1K

Those With Health Insurance Pay "Hidden Tax," Group Advocating Expanded Coverage Finds

(AP)  The average family with health insurance shells out an extra $1,000 a year in premiums to pay for health care for the uninsured, a new report finds.

And the average individual with private coverage pays an extra $370 a year because of the cost-shifting, which happens when someone without medical insurance gets care at an emergency room or elsewhere and then doesn't pay.

The report was being released Thursday by advocacy group Families USA, which said the findings - which it calls a "hidden tax" - support its goal of extending coverage to all the 50 million Americans who are now uninsured. Congress and the Obama administration are working on a plan to do that.

Families USA contracted with independent actuarial consulting firm Milliman Inc. to analyze federal data to produce the findings.

"As more people join the ranks of the uninsured, the hidden health tax is growing," said Ron Pollack, Families USA executive director. "That tax hits America's businesses and insured families hard in the pocketbook, and they therefore have a clear financial stake in expanding health care coverage."

The report found that, in 2008, uninsured people received $116 billion in health care from hospitals, doctors and other providers. The uninsured paid 37 percent of that amount out of their own pockets, and government programs and charities covered another 26 percent.

That left about $43 billion unpaid, and that sum made its way into premiums charged by private insurance companies to businesses and individuals, the report said.

The major government insurance programs - Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor - are structured in a way that doesn't easily allow payments to insurers to adjust upward. And somebody has to pay.

Ronald A. Williams, chairman and chief executive of Aetna Inc., gave the example of a local community hospital that provides care to someone without insurance who arrives at the emergency room. When it's not paid for, the hospital has to raise its rates to insurance companies, and they pass that on in higher premiums, Williams said.

"Our members then say, 'Well, why is health insurance so expensive?"' Williams said in an interview. "And the answer is because you're paying for your own care as well as for the care of some of the uninsured in the community."

Aetna was not involved in writing or funding the report but Williams planned to appear at a news conference Thursday with Families USA officials to release its findings.

[evilbusheviks]

A single payer health care system not only would be cost effective in providing coverage to all Americans it is endorsed by many of the front lines of health care, doctors and nurses.

If we were to eliminate health insurance companies, decisions in care would be between a doctor and the patient. No more CEO salaries in the hundreds of millions. People like William McGuire (United Health), would not receive 1.1 billion in a golden parachute after being "let go' due to a back dating stock scandal in which he tried to obtain 1.6 billion dollars.
Large salaries for health insurance CEO's come from some where. They come from people and employers paying premiums for insurance, being denied care, and then health care providers waiting months for payment for services rendered. Many insured Americans die from doctor ordered care being denied from health insurance companies in order to make large profits for CEO's, shareholders and to pay off US elected officials.

posted by inesje88
****************

Yep.....the for-profit health care industry kills 100,000 Americans through mistakes every year, yet still wants larger profits at our expense.

It is well past time for REAL health care in America -- HR 676.

[evilbusheviks]

"There is no reason to provide free health care to anyone........manipulating the system to the detriment of all but themselves."

Posted by drivelphobe
*******************

Sounds to me like a voice of a CONStipated CONServitard getting free health care from corporate America, (or a retiree on government-run Medicare) while flipping the bird to average Americans during the bush/cheney recession/depresion. Seems like the old republiCON rant -- I've got mine, to heck with everybody else! Let them eat cake!

[rwassel]

What do you think, right wing neo-cons?

If everyone had health insurance, it would save you $1,000.

Too bad you and the Party Of No are too blinded by your hatred for our President, wishing him to fail, to recognize a good opportunity for policy change.

[whitemale08]

HMO = FRAUD, ABUSE AND DENIAL OF HEALTH CARE TO SAVE 'BOTTOM-LINE'!

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DEMAND 'SINGLE PAYER'!

Read story about SUICIDE CLINICS the Swiss use:

http://larouchepac.com/node/10412

This is where Obama/Peter Orzag/Larry Summers and Daschle wants to take us folks.

[scyouth]

notsocial - shaddup.
jonesjep - have YOU ever been treated by any of the systems you mention? They're not perfect admittedly, but they won't refuse you treatment nor bankrupt you afterwards. In the UK BTW you can still pay a little extra (~200 pounds/month) and get out of the National Health and into private care.

[jonesjep]

"why have an insurance policy at all???
medi care, social security, the veterans health care system , the military health care system all operate without a middle man sucking off money like a parasite sucks blood.
are you too good for the same health care system a soldier has to use,
or that your SENATOR gets?????

BY THE WAY THESE ARE ALL 'GOOD' SOCIALIST PROGRAMS,

TO GOOD FOR SOME FASCISTS THOUGH
................................

The Medicare, Medicaid and VA systems SUCK!!!! You must not know any people because anyone who has to deal with these Government run systems know how bad they are. The Canadian and UK Socialized systems stink as well.

[dwilson59]

Obama vows to make the Rich Pay the Mortages, Taxes, Health Care, Credit Cards and a new Obamamobile (fka GM) for those who cant afford it in exchange for votes.
Posted by no_socialism at 12:09 PM : May 28, 2009

Obamamobile runs on hot air and other people's money

[inesje88]

This question is for CBS.
Why didn't you report on single payer representatives being arrested at the hearings being held by Max Baucus? I had to go the web and watch it on "the Ed Show".
I don't have cable or a dish so that is where I had to view it. I am not behind in my mortgage either. We bought resposibly, 20% down on a house that was in our budget. Almost lost it all though when I became very ill and needed several surgeries. Turns out that I have a genetic autosomal dominant disease that would have most likely killed me when I was younger had I not had such a healthy life style. When my health insurance company found out (a self funded plan through my husband's employer), my husband was let go. Not for long though because he was a good employee. They wanted to rehire him when my illness would be pre-existing and they would not have to insure me. Could not afford COBRA at $1800 a month esp. w/o my husband's job and me too ill to work. The insurance company even stopped paying for all the treatments they had previously agreed to pay. We had savings, we lost all are savings. The insurance called a genetic disease a life style choice. A few months later, my husbands employer said the plan was not solvent and started a new one. This is not a small company either, several thousand employees and they did this to numerous people. It is legal to do. If we did not have savings like we did we would have lost our home and everything else, yet we paid $500 a month for this insurance plan .
Now we are trying to sell our home and leave this country to a country that has a single payer plan that works(I am blessed to be a dual national).
Wish I was healthier. Sometimes a citizen needs to protect their country from the government.
Once again, CBS, why didn't you cover single payer supporters being arrested and allowed a seat at the table? Dr. Marcia Angell (who represents single payer) was the first female editor-in-chief of the NEJM, and could shed a great deal of light on what single payer has to offer. You could also invite Dennis or Elizabeth Kucinich or John Conyers. You feature "Children of the Recession". These children would at least have access to affordable health care if HR 676 was to pass.

[tommynutz]

Health insurance is nothing like car insurance. Granted, if it was, maybe that would be a step in the right direction. I pay very little for auto insurance, and have never made a claim. When you make a claim, your insurance invariably goes up.

Maybe it should start cheap and if you have to start going to the doctor every month for this or that then your payments should go up.

However let the people that simply pay into the system remain at low levels.

[generey]

Wasn't too long ago boy george said thing are better in this country than ever before. ???

[inesje88]

It is not just the GOP keeping the poor and middle class down.
Max"sold my soul" Baucus is a Democrate.
We have a 2 party system that plays one against the other, a left/right paradigm. Same bird different wing. Memebers of both parties accept donations from the health insurance industry and pharma. That being said, there are members from both parties that are honest and working on the behalf of those who elected them. Problem is the later is rare and there are few of them.
Just as we must shine a light on the big banksters and our elected officials who are complicent in robbing we the people, we must shine a light on how the health care industry is trying to formulate policy by large donations.
Big Business copulating with big government against the working class is fascism. When single payer health care (with the backing of a large percentage of American workers including doctors and nurses who are representing the movement), are not even allowed a seat at Max Baucuses Senate Finance Committee on Health Care Reform, we need to make our voices heard. We said no to big bank bailouts and many of our elected officials were told no bailout would lead to marshall law. Who knows what the government will threaten if we want single payer to have a seat at the reform talks. Why should our elected officals have access to health care insurance that we the people can only dream about?
Democrates have a majority now. Years ago Obama stated single payer was the way to go. Now he says, that would be true only if we are starting from scratch. Well Mr. President, we would not be starting from scratch. We have medicare presently. All we need to do is to cut out the middle man(health insurance industry that serves no real purpose except pay CEO's outrageous salaries and donates upwards of $400,000.00 to people like Baucus). Democrats like Conyers and Kucinich have worked out the details, are they need you to do the right and honorable thing Mr. President.

[presjfk]

Its kind of like auto insurance where you pay your insurance and then you need to buy uninsured/underinsured motorists coverage. It's crazy. No other country on the planet has the kind of health insurance system America has and no other country in the world wants it. In fact, they laugh at us.
Posted by endrepubs

Great post, you nailed it. I would only add that if you compared the costs of health insurance state-by-state, the differences can be staggering. This makes our system even more stupid and ridiculous.

[presjfk]

If individual insurance policies were actually affordable instead of $700 a month (such as I pay), then maybe we wouldn't have this problem.
Posted by tomanyt

I live in NJ, reportedly the most expensive state in the country for health insurance. My premiums (individual coverage) is just under $400 a month. If i cross the rive into PA, my premiums would be around $200 a month. Where do you live that it is $700.00 ?

[tomanyt]

If individual insurance policies were actually affordable instead of $700 a month (such as I pay), then maybe we wouldn't have this problem.

[inesje88]

Nothing happens in politics by accident. There is no conspiracy, only an agenda. The US economy is imploding. In this country not only does that mean hundreds of thousands are facing unemployment, but also coming to gripes with loosing health care benefits. Numerous citizens are turning to the military for employment (I live in a CO town whose main economy revolves around the military so I have talked to soldiers and their families).

With this war on terror( are we still playing the where is Osama game-or have we gone back to the where is Waldo game?) and talk of spreading democracy to other parts of the world, we need more soldiers. The big bankster who imploded they economy (money is never lost, it just changes hands), fund both sides of every war. If the economy was better and we had a health care policy that counted everyone in and no one out, there would be fewer people forced to enlist to pay the household bills and receive health insurance for their families.

Our elected officials not only have excellent health insurance we the people pay for, but many of them also receive large "donations" from the health insurance and pharma industry. If Dr. Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks just sat back and simply hoped that things would change in the civil rights movement, inequallity among the races would be more previlent in this republic than it presently is. Ruling powers rarely surrender rights to those they dominate with out a fight.

Many workers who do not have access to affordable health care through an employee health insurance plan are service workers. This includes child care workers, restaurant employees and small business owners. With all this talk about a pandemic like the H1N1 panic of the past few weeks, just think how fast it could spread if people who work with pre school age children are unable to afford health care. Many of those workers aren't afforded sick pay, let alone health insurance. For the sake of cheap fast food, we have millions of workers with out health insurance. These workers provide services that we all enjoy, but we want the burgers and child care to remain relatively low in cost so a certain "class" of people have to live with out what others enjoy. Just because a worker was given by God a higher IQ than another, there for able to obtain a higher level of acheivement means they and their family are intitled to better health care. We don't ration police or fire protection in that fashion why health care? Our republic has become a fascist state. Corporations donate money to our elected officials and dictate policies that regulate everyday life for American citizens. We have become a nation of "I want mine to heck with what you need". A single payer health care system not only would be cost effective in providing coverage to all Americans it is endorsed by many of the front lines of health care, doctors and nurses.

If we were to eliminate health insurance companies, decisions in care would be between a doctor and the patient. No more CEO salaries in the hundreds of millions. People like William McGuire (United Health), would not receive 1.1 billion in a golden parachute after being "let go' due to a back dating stock scandal in which he tried to obtain 1.6 billion dollars.
Large salaries for health insurance CEO's come from some where. They come from people and employers paying premiums for insurance, being denied care, and then health care providers waiting months for payment for services rendered. Many insured Americans die from doctor ordered care being denied from health insurance companies in order to make large profits for CEO's, shareholders and to pay off US elected officials.

Watch Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich on youtube explain how single payer can and will work. Watch Max Baucus have doctors and nurses arrested when they attempt to have single payer have a seat at the table. HR 676. Everybody in, Nobody out. We can thrive as a nation if we have a healthy populous. Not only does that include government employees, but citizens from every economic strata, all contributing to the properity of this republic and pursuing their dreams.

[morbidcherub]

If they would stop letting insurance companies bully them into such low 'negotiated rates', what the uninsured person actually pays would be more in line with what isp aid by an insurance company. Seems to me the uninsured who try to make good on their bills are the ones subsidizing the care for those insured by the bullying insurance companies. Why should they be charged more? Costs need to be set and set across the board with no lower rates for insurance companies. They can afford to pay more than the uninsured can, so why are they paying less?

[jon2012-2009]

THEY ARE STILL PAYING MORE THAN THE INSURANCE COMPANIES...
Posted by dead_nancy at 9:45 AM : May 28, 2009

Why pay the insurance company at all? Why not have the government collect the premiums (in the form of taxes) and pay doctors and hospitals directly like in other countries or as in Medicare/Medicaid?

[jon2012-2009]

For Max Baucus to hold a health care reform summit several weeks ago and not allow single payer a seat at the table is inconceivable. That is until you realize that Max has had his pockets lined by the health insurance and pharma industry to the tune of over $400,000.00. Posted by inesje88.

Without a government run single-payer system, and with the health care industry a major player in health care delivery, we will continue to see massive fraud and waste that will consume an ever larger bite out of our GDP. It's unsustainable. This system is one of the greatest failures of American-style capitalism.

You look at what other countries are doing, they must be scratching their heads. Our health care costs are more than twice the average of the 30 wealthy countries in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development yet by several measures of quality our system is inferior, way below theirs. You think what we've got is good enough?

[retiredgustav]

This is new news. I have always said we have a national health plan, the way it is funded sucks. Way to go conservative.

[tiktin]

This is a lie planted by the insurance companies to get more people to buy insurance or to get the government to pay for it. Everyone should have the right to buy insurance or not buy it or buy as much as they please. I'll tell you something, bunky. I have insurance and I am not interested in your opinion.