More Americans Lack Cover for Ill-Health

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http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/083105HA.shtml

 

More Americans Lack Cover for Ill-Health

By Christopher Swann

The Financial Times

 

Tuesday 30 August 2005

 

Despite the strength of the US economy, the number of Americans

without health insurance in 2004 climbed for the fourth consecutive

year to a record high of 45.8m and the poverty rate also increased,

according to official figures yesterday.

 

The data from the Census Bureau - the US government statistical

agency - identified an 800,000 increase in uninsured Americans, who

make up 15.7 per cent of the population. Although the number of

Americans without healthcare was at its highest levels since records

began in the mid-1980s, as a share of the population it was still down

from a peak of 16.3 per cent in 1998.

 

One of the main factors in the growing number of people living

without health insurance is that the surging costs appear to have made

companies more reluctant to insure their workers. The share of

Americans covered by job-based health insurance fell from 60.4 per

cent to 59.8 per cent, although companies still provide health

benefits to around 170m employees. Research by the Kaiser Family

Foundation, a health research institute, found the cost to companies

of providing healthcare to employees rose by an average of 12 per cent

last year five times the increase in wages.

 

The number of Americans living in poverty also rose by 1.1m to 37m

last year 12.7 per cent of the population, up from 12.5 per cent in

2003. However the poverty rate rose for only one group non-Hispanic

whites which had an 8.6 per cent poverty rate for 2004 compared with

8.2 per cent in 2003. The figures suggest that the robust growth in

the US economy and the recent strength of job creation has yet to

elevate the condition of America's most vulnerable citizens.

 

Experts believe uninsured individuals tend to wait longer before

seeking care for illness and are less likely to take all of the drugs

prescribed. " The result can be that easily treatable conditions are

not caught early enough and ultimately more people end up in hospital

that would not have been there had they been treated more promptly, "

says Diane Rowland, executive director of the Kaiser Family

Foundation's commission on the uninsured. " It also leads to a higher

rate of personal bankruptcy, when people struggle to meet healthcare

costs out of [their own] pocket. "

 

In addition, the high uninsured rate puts a financial strain on

America's hospitals. Estimates suggest that hospitals foot the bill

for $40bn-$60bn in unpaid medical care each year.

 

Tuesday's survey also revealed that the real median household

income in the US was unchanged at $44,400 in 2004. This is $1,700 less

than in 2000. " This is a pretty poor showing three years into an

economic recovery, " said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic

Policy Institute, a liberal think-tank. " This is mainly due to the

weakness of the labour market. Only the top 5 per cent who tend to be

less dependent on wages have seen their income improve. "

 

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