If you’re not one of them, the fact that nearly 46 million Americans have no health coverage is easy to dismiss as someone else’s problem.
Think again.
According to an excellent report issued last week, people without health coverage have less access to care, and thus are far more likely to skip critical screenings that can detect cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages. When minor illnesses go undetected, they can become major ones, requiring much more expensive treatment. Eventually, we all end up paying through higher health-care costs.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which compiled the state-by-state report, is among a broad coalition of business, labor, government and health-care leaders that has proclaimed May 1-7 as Cover the Uninsured Week, bringing attention to a problem that can no longer be ignored.
In our state, 793,000 residents are without health coverage, a fact that is putting increasing pressure on an already cracking health-care system.
Providence Everett Medical Center’s emergency department treated more than 15,000 uninsured patients last year. Providence reports its cost for that treatment was more than $8 million in 2005 alone, and the trend keeps getting worse. Clinics that offer low-cost care are seeing more uninsured patients, too.
This isn’t a problem reserved for the young, either. It’s estimated that 7 million Americans 50 to 64 years old aren’t covered.
The national push to cover the uninsured comes as Massachusetts has enacted a trail-blazing law mandating health coverage for all its citizens, using a combination of government and market-based tools. Time will tell whether it succeeds, but it’s a welcome step in an arena where solutions have been scarce. Washington lawmakers should watch Massachusetts’ experiment closely and be ready to adopt what works.
The federal government, though, should be out front in finding solutions. One promising tool, small-business health plans, are being supported by the National Federation of Independent Business. The NFIB reports that 27 million of America’s uninsured are owners, employees or dependents of businesses with fewer than 100 workers. Small-business health plans would allow small-business owners to join together across state lines for cost savings, resulting in greater access to health care.
If all Americans were insured, the nation’s health would improve. Small problems would be less likely to become bigger, more expensive ones, which in turn would ease skyrocketing costs that threaten our nation’s economic health.
Massachusetts is providing leadership. It’s time for the same in Washington, D.C.
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