Paying For Health Care For The Uninsured

A study from Families USA shows that providing health care for the uninsured increases the annual cost of insurance premiums for the average worker by $341 and for the average family by $922.

Providing universal health care, or even a more modest program as proposed by John Kerry during the 2004 Presidential campaign which would greatly reduce the number of uninsured, would provide significant savings to the workers who are already subsidizing care for the uninsured. Such cost shifting also places a burden on government programs such as Medicare, causing tax payers to indirectly pay for care for the uninsured.

The uninsured also receive much of their health care by inefficient means. They frequently are seen in the Emergency Rooms and Urgent Care Centers rather than in mors cost efficient physician offices. They also receive much less preventative and routine care of chronic problems, resulting in greater overall expenses when they receive care for more catastrophic problems. We are already paying for medical care for the uninsured indirectly by cost shifting. It would be far more economical to have a better organized program which will provide such care in a more cost effective manner.