We’re paying already
If you think we’re not paying for people who don’t have health insurance, think again.
A new study by Families USA shows a family with health insurance paid $1017 in extra premiums in 2008 to cover the costs of people who can’t afford care; individuals paid $368.
Families USA calls it the hidden health tax.
The hidden health tax is the undisclosed insurance premium surcharge, paid by America’s businesses and insured families, when they purchase health insurance. That surcharge subsidizes the uncompensated health care costs of the uninsured.
“As more people join the ranks of the uninsured, the hidden health tax is growing,” said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. “That tax hits America’s businesses and insured families hard in the pocketbook, and they therefore have a clear financial stake in expanding health care coverage as part of health reform.”
According to the Families USA report, “uninsured people are less likely to get the care they need when they need it, and they are more likely to delay seeking care as long as possible.”
So, each family pays more than $1,000 a year so that uninsured people can have substandard care.
When they do receive care, it is paid for in several ways:
More than one-third (37 percent) of that care is paid by the uninsured themselves out of their own pockets;
Third-party sources, such as government programs and charities, paid for another 26 percent of that care; and
The remaining amount, about $42.7 billion in 2008, is considered uncompensated care; those costs are shifted onto the health care bills of insured people, ultimately resulting in the hidden health tax through higher premiums.
It makes no sense to keep paying for substandard care for tens of millions of people and allowing tens of thousands to die prematurely every year, but there are still those trying to stifle true reform.
We have to shout louder and be heard above them.
Have a beer in May
Stop into Altamont Brewing, 1042 Haywood Road, West Asheville, any time in May and ask for their "charity" beer of the day. Buy one and Life o' Mike gets $1. In fact, we get a buck for each one sold. So go in every day and have one to support Life o' Mike.
Thanks, Altamont!
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
Start From Seed
Life o' Mike has a new program- Start from Seed (SFS).
SFS is a volunteer doula program aimed at providing non-medical, comprehensive support to low income, high-risk women and families of Buncombe County focusing on three areas:
1. We help new doulas with certification and training in return for their participation as a volunteer doula for SFS
2. We mentor volunteer doulas with their first few clients
3. Our volunteer doulas provide birth and postpartum doula services to low income, high risk moms, providing support and tools to empower them as a new parent.
A birth doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; a postpartum doula provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
Start from Seed clients are referred to us from the Buncombe County Department of Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Western North Carolina Community Health Services, and Mission Hospital. The Program is intended and designed for growing clients’ inner strength and helping them gain empowerment to help them cope with the emotional, physical and mental challenges of childbirth, labor, and motherhood.
Our new moms and their infants have many needs. If you would like to help them get off to a good start, please visit our Start from Seed web site: Start from Seed, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.
I read about this study in an AP article and was dismayed that the title of the article (as well as the report itself) were misnamed. It states that the uninsured are causing insurance rates to rise. What is should point out is that THOSE WHO DON’T PAY THEIR HOSPITAL BILLS cause premiums to rise. One category is not exclusive of the other. I can have enough personal pride to pay my bills, even if I’m uninsured. I resent being categorized in that way and also resent that the general public is being blatantly misled by insurance conglomerates.
It’s tough to pay a $500,000 hospital bill for cancer care. Personal pride doesn’t go far when it comes to bills that size.