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Prime, my

Many people in the U.S. have florida health insurance through group health plans offered by employers. However, many people have no health insurance at all, or can’t afford the health insurance offered by their employer. And if a job is lost, many times the insurance is lost as well.

The Institute of Medicine’s mission is to “serve as adviser to the nation to improve health.” An Institute of Medicine series of studies, Coverage Matters, Care Without Coverage, and Health Insurance is a Family Matter, reported that 85% of people who are uninsured are from working families and that many without medical insurance don’t get the health care they need. The studies show that lack of insurance for any members of a family negatively affects the whole family financially, physically, and emotionally.

The latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Urban Institute indicates that between eighteen and 27% of the population, forty-six to fifty-four million people, are without health insurance. The Centers for Disease Control estimates there were almost forty-four million Americans without health insurance in 2008, almost three million more than in 1997. They estimate that these numbers are increasing due to economic conditions, have found that the majority of the uninsured are in working families, and that not having insurance harms families.

The Department of Health & Human Services published a press release in July 2009 stated that uninsured rely on emergency rooms for health care. A study by the American College of Emergency Physicians showed that 81% of patients without health coverage are more likely to die prematurely than those with health insurance. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development reports the U.S. as lowest in life expectancy, highest in infant mortality, and highest per capita expenditure on health, with the government paying the lowest percentage of health costs of eight industrialized countries ranked for healthcare comparisons. According to the National Coalition on Health Care, the main reason people are uninsured is the high cost of health insurance. Harvard University researchers found that 50% of bankruptcy filings are due to medical debt, and more than a million families a year lose their homes because of medical expenses.

These studies and data that illuminate a daily reality for working Americans are alarming, especially for people with children who are supporting families. There is a patchwork of healthcare provisions in place, such as COBRA, HIPPA, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, Medicare and Medicaid, and state children’s insurance programs, but no comprehensive mandate to ensure health care coverage for all. Fueling the national healthcare debate is pro-healthcare reform groups and big business lobbies fighting each other on opposite ends of the dilemma, while families are in the middle trying to afford to stay healthy.

There has been opposition to universal healthcare all the way back to Harry S. Truman’s Fair Deal in 1949, and in 2009, there are many plans being proposed – single payer healthcare, publicly-funded healthcare program, health insurance cooperative, and others. The ideal will be affordable health insurance for everyone, including and especially families.

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