On Health Care

In a nation of over 300 million people we have an estimated 46 million uninsured or about 18 percent of the population. This number was generated in a 2007 Census Bureau Report; however, with only a cursory look at the numbers in the report we find that 9.7 million of the uninsured are non citizens.
According to a 2003 study by BlueCross BlueShield Association 14 million uninsured people were actually eligible for Medicaid but had never signed up for the program. A further 17.6 million had annual incomes between $50,000 and $75,000, and could likely afford coverage. About 18 million of the uninsured were young and may have opted for no coverage based on their age and health. The same study concludes that only about 8.2 million Americans are currently without coverage because they cannot afford it or earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. This means that approximately 2.7 percent of the population is currently uninsured, a far cry from the 18 percent reported by the administration.
According to the CBO The current Health Care Bill under consideration will have a price tag of $829 billion dollars, and will cut the deficit by $81 billion through reforms, said reforms of course are not specified in any bill nor are they likely to occur. The bill will cover only 94 percent of Americans this means that after the bill is enacted we will have 6 percent of Americans uninsured instead of the current 2.7 percent. I thought we were trying to insure more people not less?
Why don’t we simply adjust the rules for Medicaid to allow more people to participate in the program? We could create a means tested premium system to allow those who need coverage to obtain it through Mediaid if they pay some minimum monthly premium. Create tax incentives for employers who provide medical coverage to their work force. Allow Health insurers to compete across state lines. The system is already in place to provide health care coverage for all Americans, it just needs a little tweeking. We should seriously consider these kind of reforms instead of increasing the size of an already bloated government.

John Rosenauer