When Someone Else is Uninsured, It Costs YOU Money

I've long maintained that one of the reasons we Americans have such difficulties with getting the healthcare we need is because we don't pay for it directly. Since we're removed from direct payment, through our employers and health insurance, we don't really have a grasp on how the system works. That puts us at a huge disadvantage, both in controlling our own costs, and for getting the care we need.

Today's post will tackle the cost parts. Most of us really just don't get it.

This past weekend, visiting friends, I learned just how true this is. Matt, retired from the military and now working for the government, is one of the very lucky people who has great health insurance, and is completely removed from the payment system. In a conversation about this year's presidential election, he told me that he has no interest in the election's effect on healthcare, because he really doesn't think there is a problem. If people want insurance, they should just pay for it.

I call that the Cleopatra syndrome -- queen of denial.

Michelle Singletary, columnist for the Washington Post, describes some of the ways we don't get it in her recent column, Lack of Insurance Hits Us All. She cites work being done by Families USA, a group that advocates for affordable healthcare.

Please note -- this is not a political discussion about universal care. This is a discussion of who gets care, who doesn't, and who is paying for all those who don't. The answer is -- we all pay.

Among the points and statistics cited between Singletary's column and the Families USA website:

• 80 percent of people who are uninsured are working -- some of them more than one job.
  
  
• Each year our health insurance premiums rise at a faster rate than our paychecks do. At this pace, insurance will become unaffordable for all of us.
  
  
• As the numbers of uninsured rise, so do the premiums for the rest of us. In fact, the Feds' own statistics tell us that on average, YOUR premiums are $922 higher this year than is necessary for your own healthcare -- because you are covering those who are uninsured, too.

I encourage you to check out Singletary's column, and the Families USA website for further background on this escalating crisis.

Then give some thought to how healthcare is paid for. How long will you be able to afford it for yourself? How long until your children no longer afford care?

The current system is poised to crash and burn -- for everyone. Including the Matts of this world who continue to play Cleopatra and really just don't get it.
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