By: Erin C. Lieber
46 million uninsured? Maybe. Maybe not. This is a statistic that is consistently reported and constantly repeated. There is no contest that this is an extremely large number relative to the population of the United States, as it equates to almost 15% of the people in this country. However, have you ever found yourself wondering just how we account for this statistic that is used so often? If you happen to have better things to do than debate the validity of the reported number of persons without medical coverage, then you have come to the right place.
The issue of the uninsured and underinsured is a serious problem in this county that must be dealt with, however, that’s not the question. The question is: As a country, are we making health care decisions and plans for reform, based on accurate data? As with any intellectual argument, we have to ask ourselves a lot of questions in order to understand the health care debate and contribute to the solution. Here are a few things to think about regarding the “46 million” figure:
- Are they all citizens of this country?
- Are they uninsured because they have exercised their legal right not to have health insurance?
- Are they young “invincibles” that do not feel health insurance is a priority in this stage of their life?
- Are they uninsured because they switched jobs and are going through a standard trial period before receiving coverage?
- Are they eligible for government programs, such as Medicaid, although not signed up?
I urge you to do some digging and see what sorts of answers you get to these questions and any others you think of. I will share some of what I have come up with in an upcoming article and I look forward to your comments!
October 20th, 2009 at 9:16 am
All good points. I have a sneaking suspicion that the figures the government throws around are inflated as to promote their quasi-socialist agenda.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Smaller Gov is the answer. Those numbers are inflated. Who really believes that anyway. love your site
October 29th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Hello,
Who are the 46 Million and is the number real? Not sure about the “real” question but I can tell you who are some of the 46 million. But first let me say this. Three years ago I was in the working elite that had coverage. Then I lost my job. A WHOLE new world opened up for me. One in which people can’t afford health care and can’t find doctors willing to take Medicare because its a pain.
The 46 million include people who have reached their maximum allowable by health insurance companies and can’t get affordable insurance. These are people in need of chronic care solutions such as diabetes, heart disease, HIV/AIDS.
They are the working poor – mostly women and children who are still locked into roles not highly valued by society. If they want insurance they must pay high premiums $400 – $500 a month. They are the unemployed and homeless – many with children and can’t afford the average 8 – 12K a year for insurance.
They are the people who have chronic illnesses that are excluded but they still have to pay for care. And let’s not talk about prescription drugs!
They are your silent neighbors. Too ashamed or feel it just ain’t your business to know they can’t afford health care. You know it just never seems to come up in polite conversation.
My story… I am one of the uninsured. Just can’t afford 12K a year because I am small business owner and we just get screwed. We don’t have a way of getting good rates. We pay rack rates all the time.
It’s my daughter who has a child and has to wait for a medicare doctor to open up and take a new patient. It’s my other child who’s disabilities are excluded from a plan and will be denied services if anything – such as she didn’t hear a forklift coming and it ran over her foot because she deaf and her deafness was deemed a contributing factor and therefore services for her foot were excluded.
I so enjoy talking to the elite (of which I was one) who sees the world through their own limited vision. The elite who make wonderful pronouncements and judgments based on since it doesn’t happen to them then it can’t be true.
Is the number 46 million? Probably not. It’s probably higher because people like me don’t even bother to discuss it so we don’t get counted. Oh and I am an American born and bred here. My friends in this situation are all Americans born and bred here. And yes we are exercising our right not to have health insurance because it just too expensive to have that wonderful right. And the right to a safe place to live and food on our table is talking priority right now.