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medpundit |
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Friday, October 22, 2004The political debate is being waged against a grim backdrop. Since 2001, the number of people lacking health insurance has climbed by 5 million to 45 million, or 15.2 percent of the population, according to this fall's Census Bureau report. Insurance premiums are up more than 50 percent, and some employers are scaling back or dropping coverage altogether. That's based on this press release: The number of people with health insurance increased by 1.0 million to 243.3 million between 2002 and 2003, and the number without such coverage rose by 1.4 million to 45.0 million. The percentage of the nation’s population without coverage grew from 15.2 percent in 2002 to 15.6 percent in 2003. What the press release doesn't tell us is that according to the actual report, these are not the grimmest of times. In 1998, the uninsured rate was 16.3% (see page 53 of report), after over a decade of steady of increase. The rate declined each year from 1998 to 2001, when the economy was booming. But after the Dot-com bubble burst in 2000, the rate of the uninsured began increasing again. The other factor here is 9/11. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, insurance rates everywhere began increasing. You don't have to be an economist to see the link between corporate health and the uninsured rate. When times are good, companies can afford generous health insurance benefits. When times are bad, they can't. One more reason that health insurance should be divorced from employment and sold directly to the consumer. posted by Sydney on 10/22/2004 07:59:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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