Because of increasing health care costs, more American families are forced to go without it.

 

This is a terrible commentary about the United States, which is one of the only industrialized countries that does not offer single payer, universal health care to its people.  Meanwhile, HR 676 which is Medicare for All still sits dormant in Congress while the Democrats fiddle with nominal affordable, universal health care which continues to depend on private for profit insurers, thus keeping the fox in the henhouse and the Republicans don't give a damn about any health care for anyone but themselves. 

 

As the AFL-CIO blog reports:  "Faced with a "perfect storm" of economic troubles, more working families than ever are sacrificing needed health care, a report by the nonprofit research group the Commonwealth Fund reveals.

"The report, which draws on four years of survey data, also says it has "never been more urgent" to fix the nation's broken health care system.

"The report, Losing Ground: How the Loss of Adequate Health Insurance is Burdening Working Families, finds that two-thirds of the working-age population went without health insurance in 2007, were underinsured, had trouble paying their medical bills or went without needed care because of the costs.

A perfect storm of economic trends is battering working families. The federal minimum wage is now three dollars an hour lower, in real terms, than it was 40 years ago; gas and food prices are soaring; home values are declining; growth in health care costs is far outstripping income growth; and people are increasingly going without the protection of health coverage.Families are facing financial crises and are forced to make hard choices among life's necessities, often sacrificing health care and health insurance along the way.

"According to the report, 45 percent of working-age people reported they went without needed health care in 2007 because of costs, compared with 29 percent in 2001.

"The report finds that 41 percent, or 72 million working-age adults, had trouble paying a medical bill or ran up medical debt in 2007, compared with 34 percent in 2005. Families in all income ranges reported growing trouble with their medical costs, but:

Families with low and moderate incomes were particularly hard hit: More than half of adults with incomes under $40,000 reported problems with their medical bills in 2007. Underinsured adults or those with gaps in their health insurance reported the highest rates.

"Other findings include:

• Adults in all income groups spent more on health care in 2007. More than half of adults in families with incomes less than $20,000 and more than one-third of adults earning between $20,000 and $60,000 spent 10 percent or more of their income on health care. Among those earning between $40,000 and $60,000, the rate doubled from 18 percent in 2001 to 36 percent in 2007.
• The proportion of underinsured adults younger than 65 (people whose out-of-pocket costs, excluding premiums, are so high relative to their income that they can’t afford the care they need) increased from 9 percent to 14 percent, or to 25 million people, between 2003 and 2007.
• Adults who experienced medical bill problems faced dire financial problems: 29 percent were unable to pay for such basic necessities as food, heat or rent because of their bills; 39 percent used their savings to pay bills; and 30 percent took on credit card debt.

"The Commonwealth Fund's report says the majority of voters are dissatisfied with the nation's health care system and want it fixed."

However, J. Sid "Don't know how many houses I have" McMansion, who wears $520 Ferragamo loafers, has had health care provided to him for entire life thanks to goverment military and Congressional coverage.  What a smarmy hypocrite. 

Meanwhile, "Sen. John McCain's health care proposal rehashes President Bush's failed approach. It would not cut costs or cover more people ”but it would tax employer-provided health benefits, pushing workers out of job-based plans and leaving them at the mercy of the private insurance market. His proposal focuses on high-deductible health savings accounts (HSAs), which provide fewer benefits at higher costs and undermine existing employer-based health care."

On the health care issue alone, why would any regular hardworking American voter cast a ballot for this selfish, multimillionaire Republican liar?