Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Latest Report on the ‘Uninsured’, Pt.5  –  Slope, scope, hope, & cope.

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Researchers predict that with their own health insurance, these people would spend more on health care. Because people with health insurance tend to spend more and seek more treatment, comprehensive coverage would increase the medical spending of those without health insurance by about “$122.6 billion,” taken from the report.

Hadley's team explained: "Adding the cost of the (roughly $3,800 per full-year-equivalent newly insured person), consisting of $122.6 billion in new spending on top of the $86 billion already in the system," The total cost of covering those without health insurance would add up to about $208.6 billion. This figure was based on the report's authors’ estimate on the health care spending of those with health insurance.

In 2007 the health-care spending accounted for 16.3% of the GDP (gross domestic product). This comes to about $2.2 trillion. Even still, according to federal figures, that amount could nearly double over the next 10 years. More of this cost is expected to shift to the government, even though the government’s goal is to shrink the already-burgeoning deficits it owns. "Given the focus of presidential campaigns on health care reform, it seems this would be a good time to address high cost of care and the problem of not having [health] insurance," Hadley said. "The cost of covering the insured will be more expensive if we continue to wait."

As far as what’s in the oven, Mr. Obama says he would “seek to give coverage to nearly all Americans” by requiring parents provide health insurance for their children and, also to cause large employers to either offer health insurance plans to their workers or else pay into a fund to help cover them elsewhere. Mr. O’s proposal relies on government subsidies, estimated at $110 billion a year. This is intended to create ‘affordable’ health insurance for low-income families. Right now, about two thirds of the 47 million without health insurance are earning less than $50,000 per year. Half of those are below poverty.

Mr. McCain’s plan is to only deliver a paltry $7 billion to $10 billion to help lower-income patients and those with pre-existing illnesses to acquire health insurance they can afford. This plan is not expected to deliver much relief to those 47 million with no health insurance. That issue doesn’t appear to be a very high priority on the Republican agenda.