For most Americans, having no health insurance has been a dilemma. According to recent statistics released by the US Census Bureau, 45 million people are uninsured which is 6 percent or 1. 4 million people higher than the 2003 figures (Results Educational Fund, n. d. ). In the United States, low income families have no recourse but to make a choice between health coverage, housing, nutrition, and other basic necessities. Without access to preventive care, people are likely to lose jobs because they regularly get sick (Results Educational Fund, n. d.). The State of Health Care in the United States
The following data will provide a clear picture of the dismal state of health care in the United States: • According to a recent survey by Commonwealth Fund, 1 out of 4 workers with employer-based insurance coverage did not receive medical care due to price and because they could not afford to pay their medical expenses (Andreopoulos, 2003). • Fifty three percent of adults with employer-provided coverage earning below $20,000 indicated that they had no access to the required health care because they could not afford their medical expenses (Andreopoulos, 2003).
• Among industrialized countries, the United States is the only one without a universal health care system (Andreopoulos, 2003). • More than 36 percent of poor American families have no insurance coverage. Among the minority ethnic groups, Hispanic Americans are over twice as likely to have no coverage than white Americans while 21% of blacks are uninsured (Moore, n. d). • Over 9 million American children have no health insurance coverage (Moore, n. d) • 18,000 people die annually because they have no health insurance (Moore, n. d)
According to the United Nations Human Development Report, people with no health insurance coverage are less likely to undergo consistent outpatient care which makes them more prone to be hospitalized for avoidable health conditions. More than 40% of these people do not have a regular place to go when they get sick and more than one-third declared that they had no health insurance coverage. Furthermore, the UNHDR bared that although the United States is the top country in health care expenditures, nations which spend less have more healthy citizens (Moore, n. d).
Health care expenditures in the United States amounts to $2 trillion annually or $6,697 for every individual. Within the next ten years, the Federal government will allocate $822 billion to the drug and health care sector as part of the Medicare prescription drug plan of 2003 (Moore, n. d). In addition, administrative expenses constitute 31 percent of the entire spending for health care in the United States. On the average, overhead cost for American private health providers is 11. 7 percent while Medicare costs is 3. 6 percent. In Canada, the cost for nationwide health insurance coverage is only 1. 3 percent (Moore, n. d).
Moreover, ninety percent of Americans believe that there is a need to overhaul the American health care system. Two-thirds believe that the Federal government must ensure a universal health care for all citizens (Moore, n. d). In 1991, 46 percent of huge firms provided retirement health benefits. In 2002, this figure went down to 34 percent and the number of American employees with HMO plans went down from 68 percent to 46 percent, based on figures released by the Institute of Health Policy Studies at UCSF (Andreopoulos, 2003).