Health Insurance: How big is the problem?
45 million Americans dont have health insurance. But some of these people are between jobs or just dont buy insurance. The problem is that hundreds of employers in Pueblo County are dropping insurance. One insurance agency lost 148 businesses in one year.3 The average cost for family insurance is $1,000 per month. There are another 17,000 people in Pueblo County with some insurance, but have high co-payments and deductibles, so they dont go to the doctor when they need to. If they lose their jobs, they lose this insurance. 1
How did we get in this mess?
1) Puebloans pay more for insurance than people in Denver. The state of Colorado is broken into different groups. More people in Pueblo are on Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid pays for the very poor or disabled people. The state cut back on Medicaid last year. Medicare only pays doctors for about half of what they charge, so doctors have to charge higher rates to everyone else. Many doctors dont take Medicaid or Medicare. If they do, they have long waiting lines. Medicare hasnt paid for prescriptions.3 The new Medicare bill just passed will raise the Medicare rates paid to doctors and offer some coverage for prescriptions, but it fails to explain how it will pay for the new benefits.
2) In the old days, a doctor only needed a nurse and a secretary to open an office. Now, a doctor needs several clerks to keep track of all the different insurance programs. Doctors need to make sure they are meeting all the government regulations. They have to pay for malpractice insurance. This is in addition to rent and utilities. In some states, specialty doctors are leaving because they cannot make a profit. 4
3) Cost of Prescription drugs is another big problem. The pharmaceutical industry points to the massive costs to bring a new drug to the market. Yet their lobbying influence is massive and their profits are high. The new Medicare bill does nothing to bring down the cost of prescriptions and places roadblocks on purchasing drugs outside the country that are dramatically lower in cost.
4) Pueblo also has more uninsured drivers than any other city in Colorado. Last year, the state dropped no fault insurance coverage. Your insurance payments probably went down. But now if you are in an accident, you might have to pay more. Your liability insurance pays for damages to another driver. Most liability insurance only covers up to $50,000.00. You have to pay anything over that. You also pay for everything if the other driver has no insurance. Its a good idea to have medical insurance and good liability on your car. 4
What can you do? QUESTION ALL CANDIDATES!
This year all of the presidential candidates will be telling you what they will do to fix the problem. Ask questions, prod, organize, attend your caucuses, and vote! Consider the following:
What is their plan?
A single payer plan? National health insurance? Major medical safety net? Does it make sense?
How much will it cost?
Look for an exact figure. A candidate should be able to say how much he/she thinks it will be and why.
