(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies
By Theresa Tamkins — CNN, June 5, 2009
This year, an estimated 1.5 million Americans will declare bankruptcy. Many people may chalk up that misfortune to overspending or a lavish lifestyle, but a new study suggests that more than 60 percent of people who go bankrupt are actually capsized by medical bills.
Bankruptcies due to medical bills increased by nearly 50 percent in a six-year period, from 46 percent in 2001 to 62 percent in 2007, and most of those who filed for bankruptcy were middle-class, well-educated homeowners, according to a report that will be published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
1.5 million Americans x 60% = 900,000 Americans
that’s about 2500 more people per day
… going bankrupt from medical bills, which were NOT covered by our broken Health Insurance system
Insuring America’s Health: Principles and Recommendations
Instute of Medicine – National Academy of Sciences
January 14, 2004
Lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States. Although America leads the world in spending on health care, it is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage.
that’s about 50 people per day
… dying needlessly, due to NOT having a place in our broken Health Insurance system
14,000 Americans . . . lose their health insurance every single day.
politifact.com — July 22, 2009
President Barack Obama cited a dramatic statistic to emphasize the need for health care reform. He said, “If we don’t act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day.”
[…]
Obama was very close to Holohan’s calculations – in fact he was slightly low.
that’s about 14,000 people per day
… who WILL LOSE whatever co-pay ridden and broken Health Insurance, that they MAY have had
Analysts Say Number Of Uninsured Americans To Grow
Without Changes, Ranks Of Uninsured To Grow Substantially Over Next Decade
CBSnews — Feb. 10, 2009
(AP) Without changes in federal policy, the number of Americans without health insurance will grow from about 45 million this year to about 54 million in 2019, the Congressional Budget Office said.
Driving the increase will be health insurance premiums that rise faster than incomes.
“A substantial share of spending on health care contributes little if anything to the overall health of the nation,” CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf told the Senate Budget Committee.
Source: Congressional Budget Office: http://www.cbo.gov
that’s 9 Million more Uninsured in 10 Years,
that’s about 900,000 more Uninsured per year,
that’s about 2500 people per day, EVERYDAY for the NEXT 10 years
… who will join that unseen segment of Society known as “the Uninsured” —
— Unless Congress, finally steps up and does something about this National Shame … does something to ACTUALLY HELP, the American People!
— Unless the Corporate Media, begins to objectively REPORT THE FACTS, about our broken Health Insurance system.
And IF Congress ends up catering to the Corporations, instead of the People? … Well … this National Shame will continue worsen:
Census Population Clock
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the United States, projected as of 08/04/09:
(45,000,000 / 307,079,028) x 100 = 14.7% of the Population, Uninsured.
that’s more than 1 in 7 People who are NOW Uninsured!
and by 2019, with an approximate US Population of 335,000,000
(54,000,000 / 335,000,000) x 100 = 16.1% of the Population, Uninsured.
which will be nearly 1 in 6 People who will THEN be among the Uninsured, in our still Broken Health Insurance system.
That’s IF Congress decides to stick with the Status Quo. If they continue to Care more about the Well-being of the Insurance Giants, than they do about the Well-being of the American People, the problem will only get worse.
I wonder if Congress will be motivated to act when that “acceptable casualties” Stat reaches, 1 in 4 Americans, have become Uninsured?
What about 1 in Three? … Just WHERE is their Empathy Threshold? … DO they even have one?
What Number will it take before Congress, before the Media, before the selfish GOP Obstructionists, ALL realize WE have a Health Insurance Crisis in this Country?
Perhaps a related Economic Crisis, in America’s Small Business sector, will get their attention? Perhaps this NEW “Business” problem will finally be their wake-up call? … One can hope:
Signs of Life for Small Business Health Care Reform
The Small Business Blog — May 28 2009
“Health care concerns have come up to the No. 1 or No. 2 spot on every survey when you ask small businesses,” Mills said in a recent interview with American City Business Journals. “Small businesses want to be able to provide health care because if you have a strong and loyal employee base, you need to provide health care to them. […] There’s all kinds of issues on affordability.
[…] according to the National Small Business Association (NSBA), in 1993 over 60 percent of small businesses offered health care benefits to their employees. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that last year only 38 percent did.
Between 2001 and 2008 the cost of single policy premiums for small businesses went up 74 percent.
Apparently, that’s what “letting the market decide” does for the American worker.
So if left the unchecked, the rising costs of Health Insurance will continue to pressure Small Business owners, who will in turn, have to lay off EVEN MORE Americans. And as those newly Unemployed in turn, themselves are forced to join the ranks of either the Uninsured, or the Bankrupt, or the “Needlessly Dead” —
Perhaps THEN, the Congress, and their Corporate Donors, and the sleeping Corporate Media, Perhaps THEN THEY WILL FINALLY REALIZE — THAT we have a Health Insurance Crisis in this Country?
If not then, will they ever?
What will it take, before they start acting to improve the Well-being of the People, and STOP catering to the whims of their Corporate Clients?
Will they Ever?
If only the Ruling Class could switch places with the Unseen Class, for say, a year — maybe THEN they’d get it? Maybe then they’d act. Maybe then they’d feel the gnawing panic, of the hopeless and helpless, who are STILL trapped within the confines, of OUR STILL Broken Health Insurance system!
Of course if they had such feelings of empathy, in the first place, would we even be in the situation we are now?
Good Question, if only … the Deciders got outside of their insular beltway, down into the streets, where the people, must struggle, must strive, must live.
Perhaps then, they’d finally hear their “wake up call” … like the sound of a distance siren, racing by, fading away, “unlikely” to save the day. Unlikely to repair the broken pieces of the American Dream. … Because sadly, that siren call of conscious, has a million reasons, to go silent, doesn’t it?
Perhaps, if the shoe were on the other foot, this urgent change would just be a given?
No matter. Someday soon, the people shall be heard. And Justice realized.
The Numbers … will simply demand it.
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2,524,608,000
It’s only a number.
The number of seconds,
in an 80 year life span.
spend them wisely.