Who Are the Uninsured?

It is interesting how those opposed to government intervention in health care reform start to blame those who do not have insurance. About 80% of these folks qualify for assistance programs in the form of Medicaid or other such state programs but have not applied for one reason or another. The rest are between the 200% and 300% of poverty level of income. It is this latter group that needs clarification. This group makes up about 15% of the uninsured and is labeled as having the ability to pay but choose not to do so. Are they really the pikers some of their fellow Americans believe? So what is 300% of poverty level. For an individual it is $45,000 and a family of four it is $72,000. On its face it seems these people should be able to purchase insurance for themselves. However any venture into the available market place shows that a bare bones plan for an individual is $6000 and for a family plan the freight is $12,000. Both these plans still come with co-payments and deductibles.



Six thousand dollars is 13% of an individual's income and for the family of four it is 17% of their income. Those who are trying to solve this problem of cost to these people feel 6% is a maximum number to get health insurance and not be an undue burden for individuals or families. As you can see this is at least double for those in the group dubbed "capable of paying." Anyone can budget out what disposable income will be left once such a high expense is entered into the equation. These fellow citizens are not gaming the system. They are making hard choices between what necessities of life they are going to let go and those they will pay for. Numbers that look like they should be adequate to afford insurance is an illusion. It is time to move on to fixing this problem and not get hung up on people who feel someone is out to steal their self determined rights of letting other people suffer. By not addressing the problem, the law of unintended consequence will rear its head. Who wants to wake up and wonder: "How the hell did this happen.?"