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June 20th, 2012
12:01 AM ET
Advocacy group: 26,000 die prematurely without health insuranceA national health care consumer advocacy group estimates that three Americans die every hour as a result of not having health insurance. According to "Dying for Coverage," the latest report by Families USA, 72 Americans die each day, 500 Americans die every week and approximately Americans 2,175 die each month, due to lack of health insurance. "The Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress to address an American tragedy and an American shame," said Ron Pollack, Executive Director Families USA. "The fact remains that for the millions of Americans without health coverage, only the Affordable Care offers the promise of access to affordable coverage and to a longer and healthier life." Families USA has been a staunch supporter of President Obama's health care reform law. According to Families USA between 2005 and 2010, premature deaths rose from 20,350 to 26,100. The total number during that time was 134,120. Each state is affected, the organization said. Vermont had the fewest deaths with 28 while California had the most - 3,164, according to this report. The method used to determine how many lives were lost was based on a model developed by the Institute of Medicine in 2002 for their report "Care without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late." In that report, the IOM found 18,000 adults between 25 and 64 died in 2000 because they didn't have health insurance. "For almost 50 million Americans, not having health insurance isn't trivial, or just an inconvenience or a minor budget challenge." Pollack said. "Because of the way we currently provide and charge for health care, many millions of Americans without health coverage are denied regular access to quality care, and many of these people face an unjust sentence of a less healthy life and an earlier death." Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, the national trade association that represents the insurance industry said the rising cost of care needs to be addressed. "Health plans have long supported reforms to give all Americans the peace of mind and financial security that health care coverage provides. The nation must also address the soaring cost of medical care that is adding a financial burden on families and employers and threatening the long-term sustainability of our vital safety net programs." But Families USA says the current delivery system is stacked against those without insurance. They pay more for care because they can't negotiate discounted prices on doctor and hospital charges like insurance companies can. As a result they often don't get preventative care and forgo or delay screenings and necessary medical care. The report further states that in the past 2 years, uninsured women older than 50 were half as likely as insured women to get mammograms. Low-income uninsured adults were 5 times less likely to get screened for colon cancer in the past 5 years compared to insured adults. Cancer patients without insurance are five times more likely to delay or even skip treatment because of the cost. In addition, uninsured adults are more often diagnosed with advanced stage disease and they are 25% more likely to die prematurely than those with private insurance. "The Affordable Care Act lets us wake up from this terrible health care nightmare of premature death," Pollack said. "Wiping out health reform means the nightmare will continue for all Americans." Forty year old Regina Holliday says having care is a game changer. She and her husband Frederick were married for almost 16 years. During most of that time they had no health insurance even though both worked multiple jobs-most of them part time. They had two small children and paid all their medical bills out of pocket. “Two adults with 2 children and 6 jobs and we couldn’t afford health insurance between the two of us living in D.C.” Regina said. “We didn’t go to the doctor until we were really, really, really sick-couldn’t get out of bed sick.” Frederick, a college professor, had a urinary tract stricture – a pre-existing condition and yet another barrier to finding affordable coverage. “Rent and food was just pretty much all of our money every month so when we looked at policies with pre-existing conditions we couldn’t afford that,” said Regina. In 2008 she got a fulltime job that paid for health insurance but they could not afford the family coverage so only Regina had health care. Soon thereafter Fred found a full time job teaching. For the first time in years the entire family had coverage. It was around that time that Frederick began to get sick. He was always tired, lost weight, was in pain. After numerous tests and scans Frederick was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. It had metastasized to his stomach, bones, and lungs. He died several months later at the age of 39. “I believe that if my husband had consistent health care during his adult life he would still be alive today,” Regina told CNN. “Today, I’m a member of Kaiser Permanente and I see how true preventative care works-annual physicals, paying attention to medical records, charting how you’re doing year to year. If anyone had ever done that for my husband there’s a very good chance he’d be alive today.” The method used to determine how many lives were lost was based on a model developed by the Institute of Medicine in 2002 for their report "Care without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late." In that report, the IOM found 18,000 adults between 25 and 64 died in 2000 because they didn't have health insurance. Pollack says if the Affordable Health Care Act stays intact and goes into effect fully in 2014, millions of American will be eligible for help covering costs and insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions or charge them higher premiums.
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This isssue angers me. ANGERS ME! It is sad that the U.S. is failing its people and GREEEEEEED in this country is the reason the U.S. is failing its people!
This is America, people have the freedom to fail themselves.
These people need to help themselves instead of relying on the government at the point of a gun to take the money from the working people of this country!
ernie, I guess you missed the part about "6 jobs between them" etc. Most of the uninsured and underinsured in this country ARE working and paying taxes.
Mia...who is being "greedy"?
Our elected officials are playing with people's lives all for political expediency...even down to the President. They tell us that our healthcare problems are caused by the "greedy" insurance companies and then push thru flawed legislation that will do nothing to fix the problems. Putting 40 million people on the Medicaid rolls will not solve the problem when more and more doctors are not taking Medicaid patients...see AGrey's post.
Everyone needs to read Wrenn_NYC' posts. It really is a true picture of what health insurance is all about. The biggest problem our country faces is lack of education regarding healthcare, health insurance and benefits supplied by an employer. For Jdoe to say that COBRA costs three times more means that he/she has no idea how much the health coverage was costing the employer. Cobra is the actual costs of the coverage plus 2%. If Jdoe try's to purchase a policy at one of the new "exchanges", he will find out that an individual policy is 1.5 to 2 times as much as his employer's coverage. People are ignorant to the costs of healthcare or insurance but ask them about the price of a car, TV, cigarettes or a coke and they would be spot on the price.
The problem is how much we pay for services rendered (doctor's and hospital's fees) not how we pay for it (insurance). The huge healthcare reform bill did nothing to reform healthcare; therefore, our healthcare system is still heading for the proverbial cliff, just at a much faster pace. As much as I hate to say it, healthcare has to be regulated.
Other countries use single payer systems while also heavily regulating how much doctors and hospitals charge for their services. Mitt Romney tried exactly what you have now with healthcare reform. Sure, almost 95% of the people are covered; however, the state can't afford it because they did nothing to control the costs of services rendered. Medicare regulates the costs and it is still going broke because it is being run by the government.
I could go on for days but here it is in a nutshell...universal healthcare is coming, regulated healthcare is coming and either we will pay super high taxes to pay for it if the government runs it or we can pay a reduced amount if it is privately run. One thing for sure...the free ride will be over for a lot of people.
Agree. Sad commentary to the state of greed and lack of moral values in our country. Yet they hold Natonal Health care up as a grail (full of more snakes)
everywhere in life you can find a travesty or transgression without hardly trying. Question is: choices and how much can we afford after greedy have picked our pockets, bones and futures to the point we no longer have enough to survive (literally) We can't afford all the fights and we can't have them chosen for us. Abandon ship (and hope) all ye tired and poor yearning to have less of a future than your forefathers.
Mia don't bother as you can see by all the comments by your fellow American citizens below who by the way expect help when they F need it. Don't give a S about anyone else but themselves. Especially those that maybe can't a get job. It just goes to show you what is wrong with this country. I hope they never need anything because after reading those comments I don't want to help any of them. I'd rather help the down and out.
not only are they dying, when you do go to the doctor (with insurance like medicade/medicare) doctors will talk to you only and not do testing. They will say things like why do a MRI when I can asses your health by asking you questions. Not sure when doctors became equipped with ex-ray vission and the ability to scane soft tissues, but the government takes our money for these programs and social security and then say, "Oh sorry we can't provide these services - even if you paid into them."
I was almost one of those stats.... I had major emergency surgery because I was uninsured (uninsurable due to to pre-existing conditions) and could not afford to deal with a developing intestinal infection. When I had the surgery, they gave me 12 hours to live..... Three major surgeries later and I'm ok now, but with over $100,000 of medical bills that I will NEVER be able to pay off. Now I have insurance through work (I was unemployed at the time). The only reason why I have insurance now is because they are not allowed (by law) to turn down people due to pre-existing if they are on a group plan. But, for the unemployed with no group plans, you're on your own.....
Thank you, GOP criminals.....
I agree. Doctors are the greediest of all. I think that they are the most responsible for the health care crisis in this country. They pretend to care about peoples health but if you don't have the money up front to see them, they won't give you the time of day let alone take care of your health issue. Even people with health insurance are being turned away because they don't have the money to pay their co-pay or deductible up front. Most doctors today are only in it for the money, nothing else.
Most Doctors don't even listen to their patients when they try to tell them about their symptoms and problems. They either get dismissed or they get a prescription for a painkiller that will most likely cause them more problems while ol Doc gets a nice kickback from the pharmaceutical company that made the drug.
I agree. People are extremely greedy. People expect me to pay for your desire to live beyond natural causes of death. After all, people do not die because they do not have health insurance, they die of Darwin approved natural causes. But, people do die *because* they have insurance.
Yes.. you are greedy.
2.5 million people die a year with health insurance. Maybe my understanding of statistics is off, but to me it seems like you are 100x less likely to die without health insurance than you are with it.
Do some independent research. 26,000 is *very close* to the number of people the healthcare system kills every year with "mistakes". More, way more, people die by doctor every year in this country than by guns.
Yet people are working hard – beyond the point of rationality – to ban guns.
THINKING. It is becoming extinct at an alarming rate.
Why should the rest of us be forced to support the uninsured? By what right? Btw, the healthcare is so expensive BECAUSE of the government intervention.
As a Canadian who appreciates his socialized medicine programme, I appreciate this data. I often find myself in debate with Americans who suggest that the Canadian system is somehow flawed because we do maintain a statistic 'died-while-waiting'. We use that statistic as a key performance indicator of the system as a whole. I have always said that the problem in the US is that you don't even measure it – you have no idea how many people die without insurance. Glad to see there is actually a number. Sad though... Add that to the number bankrupted by health care costs and then we can have a conversation about socialized medicine.
Well said my friend,.....well said ! ! !
Government is not the answer to the problem . Get over your anger and look for the solution.
If Congress would pass a law banning employers and unions from subsidizing health insurance and all those who now enjoy that benefit had to buy their own insurance, you would hear a HUGE cry for "socialized" healthcare The hidden employer subsidies of group insurance are what keep the insurance companies so profitable and in control of our healthcare system because all but the highest paid employees would be unable to afford individual policies with low-deductibles and co-pays.
Right, well goods and services are exchanged for other goods and services. I'm confused as to what your suggesting, passing nonsensical laws to force us into some sort of communist scheme?....
Well, ssefs, I guess the government should only give welfare to corporations, not individuals. If the US hadn't pursued the "socialist" policy of subsidizing employer-based healthcare through tax breaks, the current, noxious system that funnels profits to insurance companies rather than health care wouldn't exist. At least Anthem's bottom line is healthy.
IMO, the link between health insurance and employment has caused many of the market distortions that have helped to promote and perpetuate the broken status quo for decades. It probably won't change until a majority of the people would be forced to enter the "individual" health insurance markets and they actually got the entire bill for it. Then you'd see people wanting universal/single payer health care like never before.
But until then, hey, my employer pays 2/3 of my insurance, I don't have to worry about preexisting conditions or paying more for unhealthy lifestyles on a group plan, so what, me worry?
Why doesn't this article say that 26k people die because doctors and hospitals won't treat them for free? and pharmacies won't give them meds for free? That's the same thing. Why isn't the burden on – or at least equally shared by – the people who KNOW how to treat?
annie, if congress made a law against stupidity you would be in jail.
A vote for Romney and we will all be in the same fix.
EXACTLY!
There is no political solution to this problem anytime in the near future, certainly not in my remaining possible years of life. There is too much political division in the population and too many politicians beholden to corporations and lacking the integrity and courage to do what is needed and risk losing the next election. The healthcare system failure is a symbol of the failure of our system of government, our economic system, our religions and our social values. If we cannot even come together in matters of life and death to serve a higher good, the "great experiment" has been a failure. We are each on our own now, the strongest will survive, the weak will die, just like in the earliest days of the human race. No progress.
Wow, that was very well said. I would like to be your friend.
This study doesn't even take into account the people who never went to the doctor and just died one day. We should really be embarrassed about the lack accessibility to health care in our country, not just for those who can't afford insurance, but even for those who are insured.
I'm fortunate enough to have a PPO right now and I'm using it to pay for things that could have been prevented had I had the same quality of care with an HMO. I have a friend on Medi-Cal and while that sounds great, there's not a doctor in his area that takes it, so he basically has no health care.
It's ludicrous that most Americans' health care depends on what or whether their employer decides for them. Health insurance in America is designed for the working healthy only. Even if you have insurance, if you become too sick to work, you lose your insurance just when you need it the most (Forget about COBRA, it costs three times more just when you're unemployed). This is such an idiotic system, it's amazing that Americans see it as normal.
I wish we would be clearer with our language. No one dies because they do not have health insurance. People die because they do not have health care. The distinction is important and the confusion is hampering the national debate.
Yes, this exactly.
Health insurance and health care are not the synonymous.
Health insurance is just like any other type of insurance.
Take the insurance policy you have on your home or car. What you do is pay into a pool, set up by the insurance company, where some number cruncher /analyst is gambling that premiums – moneys paid in by the policy holders – will be more than the the outlay – money paid out to cover home or car loss do to accident and the like. Unlike most house/car insurance, though, the health insurance people are usually not allowed to cancel your policy if you have a catastrophic loss. They still want to minimize their pay out, though. Insurance companies are not in it to take care of you. They're in it for the bottom line to their balance sheet and often their shareholders.
What health insurance companies do do, however, is minimize their losses by 'closing' the pools that end up negative. 'Closing' means that no new people can buy into that pool... and then rates slowly (government intervention here, again, there are limits) go up. Until people leave the pool for other policy types/pools. Those that CAN leave, because those with pre-existing conditions often can't. And the price of the policies in that pool continue to rise.
Make no mistake. Health insurance is all about actuaries gambling on your health. Gambling that, in the aggregate, the 'pool' you are part of, will remain profitable. That the majority in that pool will remain healthy enough to not require the use of all their premium monies, and that those that get sick won't eat up that positive balance. and that insurance customer rep? May be a good person, and may want to help you... but may not be able. Like your car and your home insurance company, they are in it to minimize costs, maximize profit, and control how much gets spent.... on YOUR health.
(caveat... yes, I have a pre-existing condition, thankfully not a very bad one – asthma- but some of the meds are expensive. Currently I'm doing consulting work. No, I don't have insurance. I do, however, make enough money consulting to cover the somewhat expensive maintenance meds. )
Except that without insurance, most cannot afford the Health Care that they need if there is a developing serious condition.
Tomorrow, I bury my brother because he developed pneumonia (he was unemployed with no insurance). It started with a cough–he didn't go to the doctor because he could not afford it and had no insurance (unemployed). It got worse. Sure, he wasn't turned down by the hospital.... But, by the time it progressed that far, it was too late. He was in the ICU on full life support for a month and died last weekend. He was 37 years old and otherwise healthy. Never spent a day in the hospital before this episode. THIS is the danger of the current system.
The ONLY way to solve this is socialized medicine. Sorry for those snobbish rich people who feel that they don't want their precious worthless green paper may be needed to help someone else. Might mean they cannot afford their 27th mansion..... If we had socialized medicine, my brother may still be alive today.....
Getting health care without insurance requires a lot of money in a lump sum. The average person cannot afford to pay 100% of the fees out-of-pocket and thus will not make the all important preventative care visits without the insurance.
To Families USA: I support you but you need to move from advocacy to revolution. Your current strategy will not get it done. You, at least need to get in the face of the enemy. Yes, they are the enemy!
Trust me–the Revolution is coming. Or maybe Civil War.
In the US, relatively few people die prematurely from a lack of health insurance and/or care. Many more people die POSTmaturely, at great expense to the system, kept artificially alive on medications and machines, attended to by numerous health care workers and support staff, using intensive care resources. Where is the outrage?
These people die from embaressment not lack of health insurance. All they needto do is look for help, there are so many programs out there to help the under privilege part of society.
Research this before you blythely dismiss it.
I have lost more than one close friend in the recent years due to lack of affordable healthcare. In one case, putting off seeing a doctor, due to costs, until it was far too late. LA Banks (she was an author, and had, years ago, quit a corporate job to devote her energy helping small business start ups for minorities in Philadelphia) died of adrenal cancer last year, that was found far too late, for this very reason.
Good luck in finding it. When I was unemployed, I was TURNED DOWN for medical funding. Why? Because I made too much money!!!! I WAS UNEMPLOYED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not nearly as much as people think. In about half the states, medicaid will not cover non-disabled adults even if they have NO income, except under very specific conditions (such as pregnancy). Many communities have clinics which provide primary care, but there may not be access to a specialist. Funding for prescriptions is sometimes available through pharmaceutical companies, but coverage is often very restrictive (such as a one year cap on receiving the subsidy). Getting help paying for testing, chemo, surgery and other procedures can be very difficult. Even where available, funds may be limited, so that not everyone who qualifies will receive the services. You can go to the ER for emergency stabilization, but they are not required to provide anything beyond that – for instance, they may set your broken leg, but not provide the surgery you need to have normal use of it in the future.
hmmmm I see alot of liberals are "angry" about this, but yet liberals are the very same people that are also "angry" about the world being over populated and not having enough resources for everyone.
Why don't you liberals just admit it's not about saving lives it's about controling people.
You want to limit how many children people can have, you want to control what people eat and drink, and the best way to do that is to allow the government to control our healthcare.
Pappa Smurf...very well said, all about control!
I'm shocked at some of the statements here. It is true, without healthcare insurance, individuals either don't go to the doctor until its too late or they prolong going until its too late. It is truly sad. I look on the news and I notice that everyone points the finger. Democrats have provided a plan and the Republicans strike it and say "that plan is not good enough". But unfortunately, they fail to at least provide a plan. Their plan is the status quo, which is obviously not working, because if it was working then 26 thousand wouldn't die prematurely because of it. This is a tough economy and we need to stick together in these times because we have to. But there is obviously such a divide. I'm sick of hearing "Why don't you just take care of yourself and pay your own bills and not look for a handout", such a statement comes from those who have been lucky enough to work and have insurance. Believe it or not there are citizens of the US that work and still cannot afford insurance. From here on out I want to hear about different solutions instead of a "no that's not going to work" statement. Sick of hearing why its not going to work when no one is at least providing a solution. That is all.
That made NO Sense (on this planet)!
Sad but true! That is the main reason thousands of American cross the border for affordable health treatments such as dental surgery weight loss, IVF, cancer treatments, etc... it is called Medical Tourism.... simple...all surgeries and treatments are 60-75% less... hip-resurfacing, knee surgery ..... that´s how my father in law could afford his knee surgery, $8,100 usd... He use Quality care Mexico... just letting you know... people look for alternatives..
Right! Thanks for bringing this up. While some wealthy people from other countries may come here for care, the uninsured in this country go elsewhere for care – I heard one estimate that as many as 500,000 Americans per year are going to Asia or Latin America for hip and knee replacements and other surgeries.
Was it due to lack of insurance..... REALLY?
or was it due to the cost for care placing care out of reach?
Seriously......
This 'debate' is so upsetting... I don't even know WHAT to say or where to start. "Socialism" is the big outcry in this issue. Really, when you think about it (please do)... countries such as France, New Zealand, China, etc., etc. - is it really so bad to have access to health care?????????? Nothing is perfect; but I'll bet you NO ONE in any of these countries would vote to give up their health care!!!!!!! No country has a 'perfect system' and yes, there are problems... but you don't see or hear about these countries voting to get rid of their current system, do you!?!?!?! Since the mid 60's Canadians have had a health care system in place... I've never heard of the entire country working on getting rid of it, have you??? Same goes for France. My Uncle recently got sick while visiting his granddaughter in New Zealand, he visited a hospital and had x-rays, medication was given to him and his total cost was... $7.00!!!! That's SEVEN; not seventy, not seven hundred, not seven thousand... just seven. Seven. Who would complain about that!?!?!?!?
I had health care coverage all my life (Kaiser HMO, Blue Cross Blue Shield, etc.) My husband got sick. I lost my job. Now I have zippity doo dah. He has Medicare, thank god. I go to a local clinic and everything is out of pocket for me. Tests, blood work, doctor's visit. Thank god for Walmart and Target pharmacies. I don't qualify for anything FREE because we have no children, we are legally married and I'm a legal American and I'm not pregnant! Crazy, huh???? I work part-time doing whatever jobs I can get all just to be able to buy my medication and an occasional blood work up to make sure I'm still alive. If I get cancer; I'm doomed. Doomed to die because I'm a poor American!
And don't feel sorry for me - that's what the deal is all about, right? If you get sick; die and die quick, the sooner the better so that I don't take up space on this precious planet, right? That's the hope of those who care only about themselves. Survival of the fittest, correct?? Don't worry, I won't be around to be able to use up my Social Security either, it may not be around when I get there anyway. I'll just go off to the mountains and freeze myself to death, I've heard that's a painful way to die and pretty quick, won't feel a thing. I'd overdose on drugs - but I can't afford to buy them!!!!!! I'd stab myself to death; but it's too bloody and messy and I just couldn't do that. I'd shoot my brains out; but I can't afford to buy a gun or the bullets. I'd jump off a building; but again, too messy. I'd crash my car into a wall, but again, too messy and my car is on it's last leg.
But don't worry... nature may just take care of me. I'll be dead soon, regardless if the Affordable Act stays in tact or if the Supreme Court kills it - life will go on without me. This country will go on without me. People will keep on dying. The rich will keep on living and getting more and more while the rest of us peons die off. Be happy; live your lives NOW because tomorrow YOU could be the one without health care access. YOU could lose your job. YOU could lose YOUR health care coverage. Don't worry if you are rich and have plenty of money; you'll be okay... unless something worse comes along to destroy us all.
OKay, I'll shut up now and go off to my little corner of the world and go die.
You are falling for the trap of mixing the ideas of insurance with health care. This is fear mongering to make people think the massive insurance industry can help them. Listen to Obama talk and you'll hear the word "insurance" ten times more than the word "care." We're being scammed.
Believe me, the cost was not 7 dollars. That was the price he paid, something like a copay. Taxpayers paid the rest.
are they actually proporting in this article and series that if these people had health insurance they would not have died "pre-maturely"? (and please define pre-maturely what is the parameter for that).. How many people that DO have health insurance die "pre-maturely" ever day/week/month/year? Why are those numbers not included in this "research" as a base line?
People that have heal insurance die too.. guess what.. EVERYONE DIES, you cannot look at a study like this in a vacuum as it is being presented.. THAT is irresponsible. Based on this information there is no way to determine what the problem actually is.
No Scam, just come up with a solution JAANC. Give me the Republican plan that stops 26 thousand from dying prematurely, that you are so enthralled with. If it does not exist, then stop whining that insurance will not save lives.
I'd like to know where they get their "estimates" from. More propaganda. I know people without insurance that STILL go to the hospital. CNN is fear mongering.
yes Lisa and they have to pay out of pocket for it. Imagine not having the money to pay for it, the debt will rise. Nothing like telling your kids they can't eat because you had to go to the doctor today. Lisa, seriously.
I don't think that this is fear-mongering. I think this is an appeal for sympathy. The only one who would be afraid is the person who does not have insurance or has a loved one who is uninsured. Also, hospitals are not in the business of losing money. The rest of us who have health insurance are actual paying for their hospital visits.
"26,000" die in the US – 130,000 die in the UK when doctors murder them to save the "National Health Care system" money. Obama care and Romney care were both modeled on the British NHS. Great Britain's "doctors of death" even out-murder the notorious murdering doctors in the Netherlands!
Read this article and then think about it... do you REALLY want the governmentt providing your "health care"?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161869/Top-doctors-chilling-claim-The-NHS-kills-130-000-elderly-patients-year.html
This is bad reporting and complete fear mongering. Not a single person is cured by "health insurance" anyway. The issue should be the cost and availability of the CARE, not insurance. Big media and the pols are playing games to line the pockets of wealthy medical industry middlemen. (Or in the case of CNN, probably are not bright enough to spot this nuance.) We need less insurance and more money for CARE. Stop believing insurance is an answer!
1. The ONLY answer is a government-sponsored single-payer health plan.
2. In America, it will never happen.
3. A decade from now you can multiply the uninsured death toll by a factor of 10.
A recent "Investor's Business Daily" article provided very
interesting statistics from a survey by the United Nations International
Health Organization.
Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years
after diagnosis:
U.S. 65%
England 46%
Canada 42%
Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received
treatment within six months:
U.S. 93%
England 15%
Canada 43%
Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it
within six months:
U.S. 90%
England 15%
Canada 43%
Percentage referred to a medical specialist who see one within
one month:
U.S. 77%
England 40%
Canada 43%
Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million
people:
U.S. 71
England 14
Canada 18
Percentage of seniors (65+), with low income, who say they are
in "excellent health":
U.S. 12%
England 2%
Canada 6%
@ Dean, I don't dispute these numbers, but most of them are based on a percentage of people who *already had access to care*. You can't be diagnosed if you can't afford to get the diagnosis.
@Tim. So how do you explain all the people on this thread telling their stories of having this disease or that disease but not having insurance to pay for care? They must be getting a diagnosis from somewhere. Even if you add in the purported 50 million uninsured the rates in the U.S. would still be much higher than other countries. That is until profit is taken out of the picture. Then our success rates will plummet.
Sounds like Sarah Palin Death Panel is in Play.... Just don't blame Obamacare....
Wondering why illegal aliens can get health care in this country without paying for it.
Obamacare does have a few good things about it like pre-existing conditions, but it does nothing to solve the real problems of paying for healthcare in this country.
Why can I buy the same drug for much less from Canada or even buy it over the internet from Israel at about half the cost.
STOP RELYING ON DOCTORS,DRUGS, AND MIRACLE. GO TO THE GYM AND LIFT WEIGHTS, EAT HEALTHY,STAY AWAY FROM SMOKERS,AND BE ACTIVE. BEING UNHEALTHY IS EXPENSIVE AND BORING
You mean those people who get LUNG CANCER when they've never even smoked should stop whining and die with their dignity?? Or those health nuts who eat all the right foods, go to the gym, never snack and never eat sweets, but end up keeling over and dying from a heart attack anyway, too bad and oh well for them, huh??? Going to the gym and working out and eating healthy are all good things... but some people do all of that and more and still keel over and some have no health care so they will end up going to the ER and dying... and then the family is stuck paying a $100,000 bill!
Just another group of Obama sycophants, who think life should be paid for by others. No one cares anymore.
Obama 2012 – When everything that you have worked hard for in life should go to someone else.
Blah blah.
But over 50,000 die every year from hospital mistakes etc. So its safer to not go to a hospital
As my father used to say, "hospitals are the most unsafe places in the world; more people die in hospitals than anywhere else!"
In 2011 there were over 36 million hospital beds alone. To state that it is more dangerous to go to a hospital than not would require a substantially larger number of fatalities due to hospital errors.
As a Canadian I am incredibly confused why so many people in the United States complain about the idea of universal health care. How can this story surprise any of you? Of course people aren't going to seek medical attention if it means lower their quality of lives. Please explain all of this complaining, somebody.
I agree 100% with you - when was the last time the ENTIRE country of Canada went on a revolt to try to STOP or END their universal health care!?!?! NEVER as far as I can remember!! Americans are INSANE and nuts and listen to too much crap on TV and blah, blah, blah... the good ol' USofA is the only developed country that has no kind of health care system for ALL of it's residents. Shame, shame, shame.... and it's just going to get worse out here till Americans wake up and smell the death!
As an American I can never understand how Canadians are willing to give the government power over something so important as their healthcare. I'd rather give up my freedom of speech than give up the right to choose my own healthcare.
Jeffrey, that statement alone proves how clueless you are.
As Americans, greed trumps helping one's fellow man. I have learned that personal freedoms are too much to a certain extent. We give people so many personal freedoms that they gorge themselves into obesity and get foreclosed on/bankrupt. If we limited who got to buy a house(10% down like canadians), how many credits cards one can have, and how much money one must have in the bank, we'd be much better off as a nation. Also, I think people would live in fear of universal healthcare in this coutnry because of the obesity rates, but how about making people without medical conditions pay their own way if they gluttnously got fat or smoked(but gave everyone else universal healthcare)? I think our nation would be MUCH better if we did those things.
Why can't we all join the Health Plan that Congress has?
Because Congress doesn't give a damn about ANYBODY but themselves; like I said, they just want Americans to get sick and die and die soon - god forbid they have to shell out anything; let the taxpayers pay for those who have nothing... like the song says "thems that got shall get; thems that not shall lose". Congress is such a JOKE and a waste in this country!!
amen...
Doctors costs are way out of hand. Greed at it's best!
Some specialists are very expensive , but family medicine and podiatrists, dentists and chiropractors and such are being reimbursed at rates similar as they were in 1995. The average office visit for an established patient is 55 to 65 dollars. New patient visits for primary care are around 150.00. Doesn't pay to buy insurance for these type of services, especially when you have a 45 dollar co-pay and the doctors office visit is 55 dollars. Why would you spend 400 or 500 a month for insurance.
I have worked in health care in both the US and Scandinavia. The US uses about 18% of GDP for health care covering 85% of the population and Scandinavia they use 10% covering the whole population. The main reason for this is that in Scandinavia doctors and hospitals do not have people pushing insurance papers all day. But Obama care has absolutely nothing to do with a simplefied health care system like in Scandinavia where both conservatives and liberals agreed on that 100% of the population has to be covered. In the US we try to micro manage before we have made the political decision how to do it.
This is interesting. I don't have a contrarian view, only curiosity. I wonder how/to what degree healt care costs are controlled in Scandanavia. I get a yearly MRI for a hip that's arthritic to monitor the chronic condition prior to replacement. Would that also happen in Scandanavia? Does Scandanavia have the same approach to malpractice? What about what people call heroic measures? I really don't know the differences. I have heard that the Scandinavian electorate tolerates a much higher taxation, which can fund healthcare. What measures does society or the State take in terms of preventive healthcare? How are obesity, smoking, drinking and other lifestyle issues managed in Scandinavia? I'd be interested in a bit more depth regarding the Scandinavian experience.
What is wrong with these people?
After seeing these sort of number how can anyone be so stupid as to go without insurance. After your mortgage and food for your children, health insurance should be the most important bill you pay.
A lot of people cannot afford insurance, especially if they have preexisting conditions-the plans are very expensive and people with a health history are not given many choices.
I lot of people are struggling to have money to pay rent and food for their kids. Or, healthcare for their kids but not themselves. Some people are turned down from ANY private plan due to pre-existing conditions, so if insurance is not offered at work, where are they supposed to get it? There is no option for some. Other plans, say the ones you can get if you're lucky while working fast food, don't cover much at all, so you still have to budget for co-pays, or can't get tests you need. My room mate has had an order for an MRI for her neck for three months. She can't get it because the only place in town that takes her insurance the insurance never paid for the last mri. She hasn't been able to save up the $700 to pay for the last one to be able to get this one, which, there's no promise the insurance company will *actually* pay. For this she pays every week from her paycheck. Yes, it covers part of her meds, labs, and pcp, and it covers emergency services, but she still doesn't know why she gets pain and swelling in her hands at random times, bad enough that she's working in tears. Even with insurance there is no guarantees. She's looking for a new job, but, she has to get one *with* insurance and better insurance, otherwise she can't risk taking it.
I am 57 years old, have worked all my life since I was 16 with the exception of a one year hiatus, during which time I still worked odd jobs. When my husband's company laid him off several years ago, we could not afford the COBRA benefits on my salary and still pay all the necessary bills (no luxuries - just basic bills). We have been without health insurance for 10 years. My husband has exhausted all job possibilities. He has done as much freelance stuff as he can find but even that has dried up now. He is diabetic and we can barely pay for his meds each month. Recently, my employer reduced my hours to 24 hours per week, which means my total take home is less than $300 per week. I have had no success at finding another job, I suspect because of my age since all my life prior to this, I could always find another job. Luckily so far I have no major health conditions that I know of, though I do have serious back and knee problems from an old auto accident. But my husband has several other health issues such as severe stomach pain, regardless of what he eats, that keeps him up at night and is not relieved by any over the counter medication. In addition, he cannot even walk to the mailbox at the end of the drive without being severely winded and struggling for breath. Meds for any of these conditions are well beyond our reach and some actually exceed my monthly income. We are not lazy deadbeats that don't want to work. We have both worked all our lives AND PAID TAXES. At one point in his career, the taxes taken out on him in a year's time EXCEEDED the total amount of my salary for that year and that didn't inlcude the additional income tax we had to cough up to the IRS that year. But now, he cannot even get disability income. We don't qualify for any public assistance. And frankly, I'd rather work than get public assistance. Yet I am now relegated to watching my husband suffer daily with conditions that are completely treatable but for which we cannot afford a doctor, let alone medication. We deserve better. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?????
Of course, there is a significant number of those 26,000 annual deaths that were going to happen REGARDLESS OF THEIR INSURANCE STATUS. This isn't about people getting health care....it's about the doctors and hospitals getting paid for their services, but there are so many sheep in this country that they can see it. Take personal responsibility for yourself and your family. If health insurance is high on your list of priorities, take steps to get it. It's not my job to pay for it for you.
It's the senior citizens that use most of the health care monies! Stop wasting money on their last month of life so millions of others can thrive. How about DNR (do not recesitate) as the default for anyone over the age of 85????
You have a good point Larry, the new healthcare legislation makes room for end of life planning , but of course the right and Sarah Palin referred to planning as death panels.
It's only logical that as one gets older there is a greater reliance on health care, thus driving up the cost. However, it is exceptionally difficult to know for sure how long one has to live to stop caring for that person. I've heard of plenty of elder who were near death and survived to live another five years. Why should we prevent that to save money? After all, is money more important than human life?
I kissed my way up to VP at a health insurance company. Now I take over $500,000 of your health care dollars for NO VALUE ADDED to your health care. And that’s just me. Now think about how many other VPs, Directors, Managers, etc. are at my company alone. Now multiply that by thousands of others at hundreds of other health insurance companies. From 10 to 25% of your health care dollars go towards administration that adds NO VALUE to your health care. But my company’s PAC dollars will continue to fool you little people into thinking that a single payer system will be bad. Little people like you are so easy to fool. Little people also don’t realize that a single payer system is the ONLY system that would allow little people (as an entire country) to negotiate better health care prices. Little people don’t realize that the Medical Cartels already know that. And that is the reason why the Medical Cartels spend so much PAC money from the hospitals and doctors lobbying against a single payer system. Some little people say that a single payer system would cost you little people more. But if that were true, then wouldn’t the hospitals and doctors WANT that extra money? Yes they would. So why do the Medical Cartels lobby against a single payer system? It’s because the Medical Cartels know it would allow little people to negotiate better health care prices. And that’s what the Medical Cartels are afraid of. Period.
But us big wigs at insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmacy companies don’t ever need to worry about health care no matter what it costs. We get our health care paid for one way or another by you little people. And we get the little people that work at our companies to contribute to our PACs. And us big wigs say it’s to protect the little peoples’ jobs. But in reality it would be in the little peoples’ best interest to NOT contribute to the PAC. Again, little people are so easy to be fooled. I won’t ever have to worry about losing my job with so many little people being brain washed by the Medical Cartels’ PAC money. Not only that, the Medical Cartels’ PAC money is used to elect so many republicans that will never allow a single payer system. Republicans have always fought against any meaningful health care reform. But that’s what our Medical Cartels’ PACs pay them for. Politicians can be bought so easily.
Pretty soon the only people that will be able to afford health care is us big wigs. And that’s the way it should be. We don’t want you little people using up the resources when we need them. And once again, I thank you little people for capping my SS tax at the $106,800 level. Now I only pay 1.3% SS tax and you little people pay 6.2%. Also, thank you for extending my tax breaks. I’m using the extra money on my vacation houses.
Sorry, but 100% of the people do NOT deserve to be covered. I see it every single day at work, these people come in and help their kids fill out the assistance forms because that is all they ever learned how to do in life, when the unwed mother of 8 comes in to help the 5th of her children fill out the forms and knows more about the forms than the people working there it's time to realize we have made a horrible mistake and are only breeding more of these welfare families. We provide "assistance" for housing, for food, for a cell phone, for school, and they drive to my building in a GD Escalade with big spinny rims... Makes me sick.
I have cancer and am frantic about the possibility of the insurance companies to implement life time limits. I have called my insurance broker and even offered to get another policy, willing to pay for two policies if necessary. You are not allowed to have two policies, when did these laws come into effect, well that would be the long time protection by our GOP of protecting the insurance companies. Medicare does not have life time limits or pre-exisiting condition clauses and the elderly don't pay squat for their insurance why should those that write a check every month for their insurance have to have limitations to benefit the insurance companies. Romney gets up and talks about pre-exisiting condiitions should be considered well then lets have Medicare with pre-exisiting condition and life time limitations standards too. Whats good for the elderly should be good for the rest of the nation paying for insurance.
Pam – individuals on medicare DO pay monthly medicare premiums (appx $100 could be a sizeable percentage of their monthly benefit) They also pay 20% for 'covered' part-B services, and co-pays for part-D medications and Rx's) along with other co-pays and out-of-pocket costs . Many – most also carry Medicare supplement-or-Advantage plans which have monthly premiums Higher, and in addition to the Govts monthly premium. FYI
There is Soooo much Mis-Information being spread ny people who are un/mis-informed – Sadly Much More I think deliberately! by Faux news outlets, Politicians – and so on!
Best wishes!
Why doesn't this article say that 26k people die because doctors and hospitals won't treat them for free? and pharmacies won't give them meds for free? That's the same thing. Why isn't the burden on – or at least equally shared by – the people who KNOW how to treat?
Sssshh – don't let the word about this get out or the GOP voters will start applauding, just as they did during one of the early GOP debates when the prospect of people dying without insurance came up. Of course, they consider themselves good Christians at the same.
bp
You aren't very intelligient are you?
Sarcastic!! – but right-on!
Lee Hughes,
If you're going to insult someone about their smarts, at least spell intelligent right.
Stepehen J Hemsley,Ceo For United Health Group,made 102 million dollars last year.Thats $53,000 dollars an hour.These greedy people have blood on their hands! I cant wait to hear people defend these vultures
Add to this the people who have their medical coverage cancelled. We have paid for medical insurance for nearly 40 years, now that my husband has been diagnosed with cancer the company has cancelled our policy. Think of it like life insurance – what if the company carrying your life insurance accepts payments from you for 35 years, and then when you are getting older they say "hey this guy may die and it will cost our bottom line, lets CANCEL THAT POLICY. Well, that is exactly what they did! Without treatment he will die. With treatment he will live a long and healthy TAX PAYING life. What country do we live in again???
A tax payer and business owner
I am diabetic and have been since age 42. I am now 63. Could not pay for health insurance around age 45, and they cancelled me. Of course, no way to get back on because of pre existing conditions.
Without drugs, I can't work, and without work, I can't afford the drugs. ( building trade, highly qualified and educated )
So...... here I am , in America !.... My organs are deteriorating, and I'll eventually become blind.
That's when the system starts kicking in . When you are blind.
But all you rich and greedy people won't have to worry. I'll shoot myself then, and won't cost you.
That's my health plan.
Thanks America.
This is America you still have the freedom to die without government intereference.
Oregon along with health carriers has had for years a pre-existing condition program as well as another program to pay for the premiums for people who have a pre-existing condition and or cannot afford health insurance. The program offers a rich benefit plan better than the one that I have. These are not watered down plans. The news media refused and still refuses to tell the public that state run programs along with the insurance carriers have been in existence for a long time. They would rather report that the insurance industry is all corrupt with greedy agents. There is greed at the top, even in government but the average agent, agents like myself, have a family, work very hard and have myself been without insurance.....why? Not because I had a pre-existing condition but because I could not qualify for these special programs due to earning just above the guidelines. I often sold plans to people while I myself did without. It is the middle class hard working business person including an independent insurance agent who is hurt by higher taxes to pay for expensive government programs and expensive care cost required by the medical profession not the insurance carrier. If you were in business and charged me $200 a month but I cost you $1000 for care you would also have to stop taking clients like me. Even the Obama Administration figured this out with the Class Act Long Term Care program. They became like a carrier and quickly realized the only people who wanted it were mostly people who were already sick. I am from England, I know the system of paying for all this government stuff will cause us to collapse as well. Proof is in what is happening to Greece, Spain, Ireland etc. You have to have enough people off the system, including those who are either supported by the system or who work for it. It is the middle class and business owner and millionnaire who solves the issue. And we need to stop hating the wealthy...America allows.any one of us to be able to become wealthy. It is the socialist dictatorship style government who are making Americans suffer by raising taxes to pay for stuff we cannot afford, discouraging companies to hire, encourage more government programs to hire more government employees giving them rich public benefits, cater to many who take other people's social security disability benefits...many people who get social security disability benefits have never worked, all of which are a few of the causes hard working private sector people lose their jobs. We are truly stupid if we think we can just keep giving out without taking in...it is a ploy to get elected again and we will fail.
Get the government out of the healthcare or any other value-generating field. It just makes them worse off. Always. Let it do its proper job of protecting the individual rights not infringing them.
how many people die prematurely WITH health insurance? something tells me....more than 26,000.
This is the real REPUBLICAN Death Panels doing!
I had a neurosurgeon with one of the most well respected hospitals in the state of GA tell me "You have no insurance yet here you are in MY clinic". He turned me away completely, and I needed spinal surgery. Some people make good doctors but not all doctors are good people.
Why does your behavior remind me of a parasite?
@gager – I already pay for your healthcare. If you don't know how our current healthcare system is funded (besides the bake sales, silent auctions, and spaghetti feeds), then you're too stupid to comment here.
hey heres an idea you know those taxes that we get taken out of our paycheck each week if your lucky to get a refund why not just put that towards a one year premium with a private insurer it works for me it costs me about $1300 the year one payment and i dont have to deal with it through the yearand then the following year the same thing i also have $20/ put away a week for co pays and emergency room visits heres the best part if it doesnt get used i transfer remaining funds into my stock portfolio and start it again the following year it's not hard people. If you keep up with yourself then the costs won't hurt it's like fixing your car if the motor died you would be screwed but if you kept up with it the motor lasts longer.
The statistics speak for themselves. Isn't ironic that we have the GOP promoting and generating friction over the "War On Women." While defending concepts such as "Pro Life" "Right To Life" with regard th e abortion issues, they have done everything humanly possible to defeat the HealthCare Bill. Their priority as outlined by GOP politicians is to kill the bill and repeal it. Think about it, while they talk about defending life, they are trying to kill a bill that will save lives. Have you ever in your life heard anyone as hypocritical with regard to these issues like the GOP? "We are for life but we want to destroy a bill that will save lives." Clearly, the GOP has no interests in saving lives on any level. The questions that needs to be asked are: "Why is it that Americans are so stupid that they don't get it." "Why is it that the GOP keeps on getting away with this double speak" "When will Americans wake up and now allow themselves to be hustled by this rhetoric, which clearly is not in their best interests and ultimately will kill them if they don't have insurance" If you get nothing from this article, at the very least you should be aware of the fact that the GOP message and solution for Americans who don't have insurance, is that you should just "Die." After all, its not their problem and they are not going to save you, most especially if you continue to elect them so they can repeal the HealthCare Bill. Welcome to the GOP Right To Life Movement. You have a right to life if you can afford it but if you can't you're dead. If you elect these people again, you probably are not to concerned about America or your future. How could you be?
No health care is better than the worst health care and the worst health care is what you would get with socialized medicine.
I already pay for your healthcare. If you don't know how our current healthcare system is funded (besides the bake sales, silent auctions, and spaghetti feeds), then you're too stupid to comment here.
Having lived in a country with socialized medicine I would argue that you are mistaken. There are currently 49 countries ahead of the U.S. in life expectancy. If your argument were true, being the only developed country without universal healthcare you would think we'd be number 1 in life expectancy.
No Body dies from not having health insurance. They may however die from not having proper healthcare.
Wrong – Steve. If you need a doctor and don't have health care most doctors won't touch you. If you are lucky enough to find one that will see you, you then find that without insurance your meds are too expensive to purchase. Just one of the meds prescribed for my husband would cost over $500 per month. Just one. We do not have even an extra $100 per month. He is unable to work and I work 2 jobs yet bring home less than 400 per week which leaves nothing after bills and gasoline. So yes, if you can't afford meds and doctors as well as tests and treatments, you WILL die from not having insurance.It isn't about not having PROPER care, it's about not having ANY care.