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| Health Insurance: Only the destitute and the very rich matter |
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| Written by Jonathan Elendu | |
| Tuesday, 07 June 2005 | |
During the 2000 President Election campaign, Vice President Al Gore
and
his opponent, Gov. George W. Bush used the issue of health insurance as
a recurring
theme. Democratic candidate Al Gore, promised to build on the
gains in health care made by the Clinton-Gore Administration. Then
about forty-two million Americans were uninsured.
George W. Bush, the Republican Party candidate chided Al Gore and the
Democratic Party for doing so little to increase the number of the
insured for the simple purpose of using it as a
recurring campaign issue. He promised that a Bush Government would
create policies that would make health insurance easy and affordable,
thereby reducing the number
of
uninsured.
 Pres. George W. Bush We all know how that election turned out. George W. Bush is six
months into his second term as President of the United States. The
reality today is that now more people are without health insurance than
there were in 2000. The number of uninsured Americans is estimated to
be about forty-five million. This number increases daily. Most of the
uninsured are children. This scenario befuddles the mind, given the
promises this man of honour and integrity made to the American people. Some weeks ago it was reported that the number of emergency room visits increased significantly. And most of the patients who went to the emergency room visit are uninsured people. The emergency room visit is the only recourse for the uninsured poor, who have no access to medical care. Therefore, even when the situation could have been taken care of at the doctor's office, they go to the emergency room to see a doctor, oftentimes, depriving people who deserve immediate attention the urgent care they need. Joy Mbelu is an Ingham County Public Health nurse. She has been a nurse for 23 years. Most of her patients at the County do not have insurance or are under-insured. The income group she deals with are mostly below the poverty level. She told Elendureports.com in an interview that some years ago when her office administered immunizations for free, she had many people availing themselves of the services. There has been a significant drop in the number of people availing themselves of these services now. Ms. Mbelu believes the reasons for the drop in the number maybe due to some of her former clients joining the work force while others are not able to afford the $15 which is the minimum amount the County charges for the immunization. Valerie Banks, (not her real name) is a single mother of three. Until 2003, she worked for an insurance company. Her job entitled her to benefits, including a very good health insurance plan. Due to the deteriorating health of her last child, she was forced to miss work on several occasions. She was fired from her job with the insurance company after several warnings. She and her family enrolled in the Medicare program which entitled her to almost the same level of insurance she had when she worked for an insurance company. Although she is seriously looking for a job, she has turned down a few because they did not provide full benefits. She says, "I am looking for a job, and yet I'm forced to turn down jobs that can't guarantee health insurance for me and my kids." After two years of waiting for something good to come along, and afraid she may lose her home any moment now, she is desperately looking for a part time job. "I am a well educated American. I am willing and able to work, yet the system is forcing me to stay unemployed…right now I pay nearly three hundred dollars out of pocket for prescription medications for me and my kids. Without a good health insurance coverage that could easily run into thousands of dollars every month. I couldn't afford that even if I had a job that pays me up to forty thousand dollars a year. And such jobs are hard to come-by in Michigan."  Gov. Jennifer Granholm Michelle Krane, (not her real name) is in a slightly different situation than Valerie. Michelle works full time in a law firm in Lansing. She makes about forty-five thousand dollars a year. Before joining the law firm, she was an instructor at the Michigan State University, in East Lansing, Michigan. Michelle lives in a middle class neighbourhood with fairly good schools. Her only child is a four year old boy who attends a private day care. "I was a student for so long with chains of degrees and huge debts. My son and I don't have health insurance because I can't really afford to enrol in the health insurance plan provided by my employer. It is too expensive. By the time I pay bills, pay for my son's day-care and buy food, sometimes I'm not able to buy gas by the middle of the month. If I were to enroll in my employer's health insurance plan, I would have to come up with about $800 every month and that kind of money I don't have," she says, with tears forming in her eyes. Does she think about her son getting sick? "Any parent in my situation will tell you that it is the first thought on your mind when you wake up in the morning and it’s the last thing on your mind when you go to sleep…it terrifies me!" Ingham County has what is called the Ingham Health Plan. Michelle does not qualify for it; neither does she qualify for Medicare. Although the state of Michigan has a health insurance scheme for children called MICHILD, Michelle's son cannot be enrolled. She makes too much money and therefore her son cannot benefit from the state run insurance scheme. Michelle feels the system is punishing her son because she has tried to earn a good living. "I have seriously considered looking for part-time work or no work at all so that my son and I can have health insurance. I was told by some bureaucrat that my son couldn't get MICHILD because I make too much money. Even when I tried to explain to them that I don't make enough to pay all my basic bills, the guy told me sorry, you make too much money. This is ridiculous. I bring home less than $3,000 most months. How am I rich when I haven't bought new clothes for me or my son in two years?" she asked in a quivering voice. Millions of Americans find themselves in the same predicament as Michelle and Valerie. Politicians use them and their problems as election campaign issues and quickly forget them as soon the elections are over. Some states, like Michigan, have programs that are supposed to help the poor and uninsured. Yet, even with these policies more people fall off the health insurance roster every month because guidelines for the state run schemes lack a proper understanding of real life situations. Of course these schemes are designed by politicians and bureaucrats who are adequately provided for. It is my considered opinion that if the state of Michigan were to ask uninsured people to enrol in the state program for a reasonable fee, more people would be covered and this invariably would inject more money into the system. So why hasn't somebody thought of this? Politics, and special interests! No doubt there are disadvantages to this idea but with all its potential for abuse it still beats the current scenario. It is the worst demonstration of immorality that the most prosperous nation in the history of the world can afford to fight unnecessary wars in the middle of no-where, but cannot afford to provide affordable health care to the most vulnerable in her own society. A system that forces her vibrant working age people into destitution for the purpose of benefiting from a government sponsored health care program is living on borrowed time. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 July 2005 ) |
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