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Sick and getting sicker….not to mention more expensive

Posted by: Jeff Gordon on Aug 06, 2008

Over and over, we hear that we can’t cover the uninsured because it’s just too expensive. But, what costs more than covering the uninsured? Not covering them. According to a study mentioned in The New York Times, millions of Americans with easily treatable, common conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure are not getting care because they are uninsured. In fact, the study found that around one-third of uninsured Americans have been diagnosed with a chronic illness.

The most recent government estimate of the number of people in this country without health insurance is 47 million, which means that if the proportions found in the study have remained constant, there might be nearly 16 million people in this country with a chronic condition but no insurance to pay for medical care.

Instead of getting the low-cost, proven treatments that can keep them healthy, these folks end up forgoing trips to the doctor, or opting instead to get their care in the emergency room. The result? Catastrophe. For example, take a person with high blood pressure. Without routine visits and medicine, people with high blood pressure are at risk of having a life-threatening stroke – which threatens the lives of them and their families. Also, the lack of preventive care mean that more expensive treatments are needed, driving up health care costs.

It’s easy to make ourselves feel better about the uninsured by claiming that most of them are young and healthy, will soon get a job, and get coverage long before they need it. But this is far from the truth. The uninsured are sick and getting sicker. The longer we wait to make affordable coverage available to everyone, the more we will pay – in money and in lives.