Ken’s Take: The subject of “covering the uninsureds” drives me nuts. First, the pol-preachers are either sloppy and /or very disingenuous with the numbers. Second, they talk about the uninsureds as a homogeneous group – they’re not. Third, the only prescription is to throw money at them.
Below is a reprised post from June that breaks down the numbers.
Note that over 20% of the uninsureds aren’t even U.S. citizens. I’ve seen estimates that roughly half of rhis group are illegal aliens. Covering these non-citizens – i.e making tax payers reward them with free health insurance –- will run about $70 billion annually – that’s $700 billion over 10 years. Count me out on that one.
Over 1/3 are folks are emplyed and make enough to afford health insurance – most of these folks have access to company plans but choose not to participate. Why should tax payers have to throw a single dime towards their health insurance. That’s nuts. OK, pressure insurance companies to offer coverage for those who don’t have access to plans. But, don’t reward them for spending on big screens instead of health insurance.
That leaves about 20 million folks. Most are between jobs. Remember that COBRA provides access to coverage for 18 moths. I’m OK giving these folks some subsidy since COBRA can be pretty expensive – in essence, an employer’s contribution.goes away. So, beef up unemployment benefits a bit.
The remainder of uninsureds are, I guess, poor folks. Since they should qualify for Medicaid, I don’t understand why they’re a problem. Make them get off the couch and sign up for the existing benefits.
Why is “covering the uninsureds” the paramount issue of our time? I don’t get it.
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Reprised post from June 18, 2009
Re: Healthcare … How many “uninsured” Americans are there? Answer: Not 47 million.
Ken’s Take: This isn’t new news, but it continues to be overlooked in the press and in Presidential speeches. About 1/3 of “uninsureds” aren’t US citizens; about 1/3 are young and gainfully employed who choose to self-insure. That leaves about 15 million who need to be taken care of. Why aren’t “they” more truthful with the numbers?
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Excerpted from IBD, “The Phantom Uninsured”, June 16, 2009
Team Obama uses the “46 million uninsured” as a reason to nationalize health care. But the Census Bureau says about a fifth of those aren’t U.S. citizens. In fact, a goodly number are illegal aliens.
According to “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States,” a Census Bureau report published last August, of the 45.6 million persons in the U.S. that did not have health insurance at some point in 2007, 9.7 million, or about 21%, were not U.S. citizens.
Also among the uninsured are 17 million Americans who live in households where the annual income exceeds $50,000; 7 million of those without coverage have incomes of $75,000 a year or more. Many of the uninsured are young and healthy (40% are between ages 18 and 34) and at this point in their lives, particularly in this economy, choose to put their dollars elsewhere
“Why the lack of insurance (among people who own homes and computers)? One clue is that 60% reported being in excellent health or very good health.”
“For many, being uninsured is a transitory state, since most uninsured Americans are only without coverage for a short time.” In fact, a Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, found that only 19 million Americans go without insurance for a full year.
Full article:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=330042258549199
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The Homa Files 
July 28, 2009 at 11:44 pm |
Ken,
The problem is that some young people don’t think. Just because a person is healthy doesn’t mean they don’t need health insurance. What happens if a kid is involved in a severe accident between jobs? No problem, just wipe out your parents life savings. If an illegal Mexican worker is severely injured on the job, what do we do? Conservative logic would dictate that we let them bleed to death. Sorry, moron, you should have never entered the U.S.