Now we come to the study released today by The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Agency tracked healthcare costs of Americans under the age of 65. The Agency's tracking considered people to be burdened by health care if their total healthcare costs exceeded 10% of their family income. Forty nine MILLION people meet this criteria, almost one in five. Eighteen MILLION have a cost of 20% or more of the family income. The findings also state that nearly 33%, or one in three of poor families are struggling with healthcare costs, and one in four low to middle income families are struggling with healthcare. Insurance did not necessarily make a difference in these figures. If you look at it in another way, for an uninsured, or underinsured family, a medical bill of $500 could be enough to seriously strain family finances, and a bill of $2,000 or more could strain the family more than you can imagine.
In 2000, my son Zane was born at 31 weeks, 5 days gestation. The cost of a Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit or NICU at that time varied between $3,000 and $12,000 a day, depending on what level of care was needed. On top of this you have to add doctor fees, lab tests, monitoring, imaging and birth costs. The total bill for the first six weeks of Zane’s life would have been a bit over $1,000,000.
Yes, you did read that correctly—ONE MILLION dollars.
Take a family with average health insurance, and assume a 10% flat co-pay for the hospitalization and you reach the figure of $100,000 to keep a premature child in a NICU for six weeks, the length of time my son was there. At the time we were on medical assistance through the state of Minnesota, so we were covered 100% for all of that. We were lucky to live in Minnesota and have state coverage for what was a rough pregnancy and could have left us in debt for years.
So, how does the United States go about implementing a universal health plan? In my opinion it would require a total restructuring of healthcare as we know it. If it were up to me, each person would pay a flat portion of taxes or a flat monthly fee, whichever was less, to cover a national plan. Private insurance could be bought for additional coverage, but in my perfect utopia it would not be necessary. Each family would have access to doctors, clinics and hospitals of their choice, and a portion of alternative health treatments would be covered as well. This would release the average American family from the increase in healthcare costs, as well as make sure that every legal resident of the US is covered.
I realize that this is a pipe dream and that to have it happen would require a huge change at the national level… which might never happen given the current political climate. You can make a difference by contacting your member of Congress and your Senator at both state and national levels. Get involved, read, keep track of expenses and write letters. One voice might not be heard, but a chorus will grab attention. Those of you with healthcare spending accounts through your employer—use them. It helps us defray costs significantly and it does help come tax time. Use expenses as a tax deduction, save receipts, keep track of costs and mileage. All of that can be deducted and save you a bit. But most of all, be vocal.
