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Another factor, which increases the number of working uninsured, is the increase of healthcare costs. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, employees costs have risen by 47% and employers have seen a 20% increase. The employee's higher percentage can be attributed to the fact that employers are shifting some of the increased costs to the employee through higher deductibles and increase co-payments.
The U.S. government, at both the state and federal level attempt to help the poor, the elderly, the disabled and uninsured children through the Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) programs. Unfortunately, if you live above the poverty line and are between the ages of 18-64 there is very little help available.
Being uninsured means a lower quality of life and a decrease in the length of one's life. According to the Institute of Medicine, one in five adults without health insurance report to be in fair or poor health; for people with continuous healthcare coverage the statistic is one in nine -- almost double. The Institute provides four examples of the personal health costs of not having continuous healthcare coverage:
"1) Uninsured adults have a 25% greater mortality risk than adults with coverage. About 18,000 excess deaths among people younger than 65 are attributed...
This mortality figure is similar to the 17,500 deaths from diabetes and 19,000 deaths from stroke within the same age group in 2001.
2) Uninsured women with breast cancer have a risk of dying that is between 30% and 50% higher than for insured women.
3) Uninsured car crash victims were found to receive less care in the hospital and had a 37% higher mortality rate than privately insured patients.
4) Uninsured individuals with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, end-stage renal disease, HIV infection, and mental illness have consistently less access to preventive care and have worse clinical outcomes than do insured patients."
Life transitions -- loss of employment, transitioning between jobs and no longer being covered by a parent's health insurance policy create points of vulnerability for individuals. To help with loss of employment, the federal government created the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (COBRA) to provide for 18 months of continuous coverage when someone leaves a job; however, COBRA costs 102% of the total premium of the former employer's total costs for an individual employee, including the portion the employee had previously contributed. The high costs of COBRA are often too much for the former employee to
3) Uninsured car crash victims were found to receive less care in the hospital and had a 37% higher mortality rate than privately insured patients.
4) Uninsured individuals with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, end-stage renal disease, HIV infection, and mental illness have consistently less access to preventive care and have worse clinical outcomes than do insured patients."
Life transitions -- loss of employment, transitioning between jobs and no longer being covered by a parent's health insurance policy create points of vulnerability for individuals. To help with loss of employment, the federal government created the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (COBRA) to provide for 18 months of continuous coverage when someone leaves a job; however, COBRA costs 102% of the total premium of the former employer's total costs for an individual employee, including the portion the employee had previously contributed. The high costs of COBRA are often too much for the former employee to
Polls examining public support of the bill and specifically the public healthcare option vary significantly. With regard to physicians, the New England Journal of Medicine surveyed over six thousand medical doctors and found there was a majority in favor of federally provided public healthcare insurance (Keyhani & Federman). Other polls have suggested an opposition to the public option (Marmor). The public option would provide an affordable alternative to the current
Health Disparities of Uninsured Statistics show that approximately 47 million of America's population lacks medical coverage, and another 38 million has inadequate health insurance. What these statistics imply is that one-third of Americans are insecure and unsure about whether they would afford healthcare if they fell sick or needed medical help today. The State of Texas tops the list, with an uninsured population of approximately 8 million, representing 25.1% of the
Application of Public Health Concepts for the Uninsured: The Effects on the Health Sector Introduction Application of public health is of major concern to DNP-prepared nurses in their different fields and places of practice. Since the 20th century, public health nurses have been at the forefront of improving the general health condition of different communities by providing unrelenting and selfless services to members of the public. Immunizations, workplace safety, healthier mothers and
The success of PPACA, and its provisions for people who are currently or chronically uninsured, will depend on reform of public programs as well as private insurance practices to create "new pathways to coverage (Gulley) and address the problematic link between employment and insurance coverage. In other words, employment should not be the only viable option for securing affordable insurance, nor should there be "significant work disincentives for people
Transparency empowers consumers to become better shoppers. Economists assert that transparency stimulates productivity, for example, in exchange for money, one individual obtaining fair value. In every aspect, except healthcare, Davis points out, transparency, is supported. The contemporary dearth of transparency in healthcare has led to many Americans not being able to effectively shop for the best quality of service at acute care hospitals. Davis argues that transparency permits consumers,
National health plan [...] how and why a national health plan should be introduced in the United States. Health care in the United States is a big business. As such, a national health plan threatens the bottom lines of gigantic health maintenance organizations, and they have fought national health care consistently. They fight a plan that could cause their demise, but ensure the increased health and well being of