The Health Insurance Crisis

[Guest guest]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/02/opinion/02THU2.html?th

 

The Health Insurance Crisis

Published: October 2, 2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ven most experts were surprised by the sharp jump in the number of Americans

lacking health insurance last year. The latest Census Bureau figures show that

the number of uninsured jumped by 2.4 million, the largest increase in a decade,

bringing the national total to 43.6 million uninsured in 2002, or 15.2 percent

of the population. The ranks of the uninsured have increased by 10 percent over

the past two years, with the likelihood that things may get worse this year.

 

The lack of health insurance, a problem once confined mostly to the poor and

nearly poor, has reached into the lower middle classes, most notably to those

earning $25,000 to $49,999 a year, and even to some above $50,000. It is a

problem that needs to be addressed by Congress and the administration, which

have thus far sat mostly on the sidelines.

 

Several factors are driving the expanding crisis. The number of unemployed

Americans keeps growing in this jobless recovery, thus depriving many people of

the opportunity for employer-provided health insurance. Even many full-time

workers — an astonishing 20 million last year — lack health coverage.

 

Many employers, both large and small, are cutting back on the health insurance

they provide, either by dropping it entirely or by making it harder for

employees to qualify. Some are requiring much higher contributions from workers,

so many workers are dropping coverage rather than paying amounts they consider

unaffordable.

 

Underlying the problem is the still-unsolved issue of escalating health care

costs, which leave employers struggling to find a way out and individuals

staggered by premium increases.

 

The state and federal Medicaid programs and children's assistance programs have

picked up some of the burden by enrolling the poorest of the uninsured. But with

virtually all states suffering budget crises and looking to Medicaid for cuts,

that safety net is beginning to unravel.

 

While the number of uninsured has been climbing, Congress has focused mainly on

a different issue: the effort to provide prescription drug coverage for the

elderly on Medicare. That would add a benefit for millions of Americans who

already have basic health insurance but would do nothing to help those currently

going without.

 

Earlier this year President Bush proposed spending $89 billion in tax credits

over 10 years to help Americans buy health insurance if they did not have

employer-subsidized coverage or access to public programs, and Congress included

$50 billion in its budget resolution this year for a reserve fund to address the

problem. But neither the president nor Congress has shown any inclination to

actually push those plans to fruition.

 

Health care seems likely to become a significant issue in the presidential

campaign and the next session of Congress. At least six candidates competing for

the Democratic nomination have put forth health insurance plans of one size or

another, and various members of Congress have introduced bills to chip away at

the problem. The worsening crisis makes it clear that ways must be found to

shore up the coverage provided by employers and to help low-wage workers pay

their share of the ever-higher premiums.

 

 

 

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