How Poverty Affect Health Insurance among Poor in the USA - Research Paper Example

How Poverty Affect Health Insurance among Poor in the USA In the USA, healthcare is one of the most important things for the people all over the country in all the segment of the society. In the USA, health insurance is considered by both the people as well as the government-all are very concern about the status and importance of health insurance and also the role played by the economic condition of the people in the country. In the countries like UK, USA and other developed nations, the cost associated with the health checkup and other medical treatment is very high and without the help of the health insurance it is almost impossible for the people belonging to lower-middle class and low income group to avail the better treatment facilities. The paper is about the importance of health insurance among low income groups in the USA and also to analyze inequality in health care system-by considering the availability of health insurance of the family members in which the head of the family or the earning member belongs to the poor or low income class. Advantage of health insurance: Generally in countries like USA, the expenses associated with the treatment any disease is very high. Therefore, it is mandatory in the countries like USA to have health insurance for one and all. From the economic point of view one can also consider the health insurance as an indicator of the financial standing of the people in the societies. In most of the cases, health insurance helps people to avail the costly healthy checkup in minimum cost and likewise after having the policy if one is not suffering from any kind of disease then he or she may considers this as a loss in his investment. Poor People get less health care: The recent survey in the USA reveals the fact that the poor people are more vulnerable to be get affected by the chronic conditions, and are not in a financial condition to get proper treatment. In most of the cases survey also proves that thee poor family in the USA are not in a position to afford the health insurance for one and all in their family which directly affecting their treatment. L’Ecluse in her analysis mentioned the fact that “more than half of low-income Californians with chronic conditions put off getting prescriptions or care for those ailments due to cost.” (L’Ecluse) This condition is more common among the families having income of less than $ 50,000. In her review she also mentioned that people with low incomes often have to fight with more than one adverse condition. One among five low-income families in the USA have four or more adverse health conditions to fight in their families such as diabetes, cancer, asthma, emphysema, hypertension, heart disease or depression etc. and more than half of the people used to say that the health condition of their family members is poor compare to those having income of over $ 50,000. (L’Ecluse). In the USA, the present government has revealed their plan to ensure proper health care for one and all. But with the economic disparity in place it is very hard to ensure proper healthcare for one and all. As Turiano et.al in their review mentioned the fact that “Even the best of these proposals have little chance of covering everyone, or controlling health-care costs overall, let alone meeting human rights standards of universality, equity, and accountability.”(Turiano et.al; 1887) In spite of subsidies, health-care expenses will still a liability some families, predominantly for those who are belongs to low income level. In the USA, the Obama government has proposed a plan during their election campaign but a critical review revealed that the said proposal was “specifically structured to be available only to those not insured by their employer, rather than an option open to all based on Medicare.”(Turiano et.al; 1887). In USA it is a very common fact that these health complications and the stress produce from the illness along with the worry about price that they have to pay for care and treatment greatly reduce the quality of life for those poor people and also affect their family in a great way. “Nearly half of these low-income people are always tired, and frequently in pain. More and more, low-income people have to rely on family, friends or their church for help rather than health-care providers. Those who do seek medical care aren't helped as much as they'd like.”(L’Ecluse). Why Health Insurance is Important? Having health insurance is important because coverage helps people get timely medical care and improves their lives and health. There are few points which reveal the importance of having health insurance for not just the earning member but also for one and all in the family. Generally, not only in the USA but also in other countries across the globe, uninsured persons get approximately half as much attention as the insured people and in most of the cases poor with lower income are the affected one. The analysis has been measured in dollars used up on their treatment—even considering the available free care policies available for all citizens in the USA. This difference holds true even when expenditure is accustomed for age, income, health status, and other factors. Uninsured adults get smaller number of precautionary and screening facilities and on a less appropriate basis. Deficits are recognized for many types of illness or disorder, including treatment for some serious illness such as cervical and breast cancer as well as analysis for high blood pressure or cholesterol (Bovbjerg & Hadley) - “Uninsured pregnant women use fewer prenatal services, and uninsured children and adults are less likely than their uninsured counterparts to report having a regular source of care, to see medical providers, or to receive all recommended treatment”. (Bovbjerg & Hadley). Health Care Spending and US Economy: At an aggregate level, economists have cautioned that rising health care spending could lower economic growth and employment. A survey conducted in the USA during 2004 revealed the fact that in any organization expenditure on account of employee’s health care was the highest among all other variables. (Monaco & Phelps; 250) This clearly represented the fact that poor people or the people who are working in very small companies or with very lower salaries or may be jobless are not getting the privilege of health insurance like others. Most importantly, due to increasing cost of health care, many employers are looking to limit their coverage to increasing health care costs by demanding their employees to raise their contributions or by offering various forms of coverage for different grade of employees to ensure their own profit. As a result the employee is getting the coverage but if he or she is from the lower rank or gets poorly paid then he or she is not in a condition to afford large amount of premium for his or her family members. (Monaco & Phelps, 254) Certain economists mentioned that increasing health care expenditure has significant benefits, often overshadowing the greater than before medical costs. If one compared the improvement in the medical science with the cost of health insurance; one can assume that the cost of health care is in fact declining. “In this view, increased health care spending improves increases access to new technologies — providing both new options of treatment (substitution) and treatment for a greater number of individuals”. (Cutler & McClellan, 15) But the major concern here is the people who cannot afford the health insurance or cannot afford the medical insurance benefit for one and all of the family. In the point of view, the economist’s view point of declining medicinal cost is not stand ground. Effect of Health care Spending on Households: Problems for Poor With the increasing expenses of the medical treatment in the USA the household spending on account of medical ground has been increased over the year. For example, in the year 1999, average expense on medical ground was $1,959 or 4.5 percent of income and in the 2002 the same expense was $2,350 a year, or 4.8 percent of its income. The health insurance can help the families to pull down the cost but the premium for the same is also exceeding drastically. As a result for the poor people it is very hard to either avail proper treatment, or pay high premium to afford the medical insurance. In 2003, roughly 20 million American families, or 43 million people, reported financial problems paying medical bills (Feder). In the USA, at present the problem regarding non-affordability of health insurance is a very big point of concern for one and all as almost 47 million Americans lack health insurance. Approximately two-thirds of Americans deprived of health insurance have salaries below 200 percent of the federal poverty level which is about $44,000 for a family of four. Maximum people deprived of health insurance are labors or live in families where the main earning person is a worker, but do not have health insurance from their employer.(Kaiser Family Foundation) “With the annual average cost of employer-sponsored health insurance nearing $13,000 in 2008, health insurance is clearly unaffordable for families who must purchase it on their own”. (Kaiser Family Foundation) At present, financial problem now reached such a level that “for low-income families, private coverage no longer provided adequate financial protection as they are not in a condition to afford the health insurance”.(Banthin, Bernard & Cunningham, 188) In the USA, there are Medicaid and CHIP- two distinct bodies developed to help the poor people regarding the health insurance. But these bodies are not able to solve the problem properly. First of all, no matter how low may be the income of the earning member in the family, the person is not entitled to get free coverage unless he or she is not the parent of a dependent or disabled child. On the other hand, in some states the earning of the lower class is above the cut off level set by this organization to provide free facilities. But those families financial condition are not allowing them to pay the premium for insurance. As a result they are not getting the benefit (Feder). The danger of being underinsured or feeling monetary difficulties due to health expenditure differs not only by family revenue but also by health position. Persons who are older, have a movement restriction, have a long-lasting illness (such as diabetes, heart disease, or arthritis) are more likely to devote a high quantity of their revenue on health expenses. If these persons are not protected by an employer-sponsored health plan, or lose this exposure, their capability to purchase the health coverage from the market by paying high premium is very limited. The consequences: Detail Research in the USA proves that unaffordability of health insurance makes health care exorbitant and unobtainable for the poor families. People deprived of health insurance are more likely to postpone care, get less care, and then die when they get sick. (Institute of Medicine) In the USA, underinsured persons are two to three times as likely as insured people sacrifice various needed medicinal services for cost.(Schoen) Out of all sick underinsured adults, two-thirds deprived of needed maintenance due to cost, with half of them with a prolonged condition forgoing necessary medications. Another concerning fact regarding poor people in the USA that people who paying the premium for insurance are now started to downgrade the slandered of policies due to high price (Rowland). People in the USA who are underinsured not only face the health difficulties due to insufficient action, they also face financial difficulties which sometimes leads to bankruptcy (Himmelstein et.al 64) as most of them used to lose all their money in treatment as a result neither they cannot continue their own treatment nor can protect their family members. Conclusion: Assuring all Americans affordable health insurance is the most fundamental goal of health reform. The government must support poor people in their treatment and also must support the family members as well. It is a common fact that “affordability depends on income.” (Feder). Low-income families should be predictable to donate a lower quantity of family revenue toward their premium of health insurance and government must support them to ensure that each and every individual can get the benefit of health insurance in the country. Works Cited Banthin, S. Jessica.; Cunningham, Peter; &Bernard, M. Didem.; Financial Burden of Health Care, 2001-2004; Health Affairs27. 1; 2008; pp. 188-195 Bovbjerg R. Randall & Hadley Jack; Why Health Insurance Is Important; Urban Institute; 2009; Web, http://www.urban.org/publications/411569.html Cutler, M. David and McClellan, Mark; Is technological change in medicine worth it? Health Affairs; 2001; 20.5; pp. 11-29. Himmelstein, U. David.; et.al; Illness and Injury as Contributors to Bankruptcy; Health Affairs; 2005; pp.63-73 Institute of Medicine; America’s Uninsured Crisis: Consequences for Health and Health Care; Institute of Medicine; 2009, Web, http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2009/Americas-Uninsured-Crisis-Consequences-for-Health-and-Health-Care.aspx Kaiser Family Foundation, The Uninsured: A Primer, 2008, web; http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uiowa.edu%2F~ibl%2Fdocuments%2FKFF-UninsuredPrimer.pdf&ei=JkEsU5iIMcbnrAeKj4CYCQ&usg=AFQjCNHFmWf9Yy-gnWrugs3Z_UniFmLU3w&sig2=sPBFUL31QJx0RDpseJ_IoQ&bvm=bv.63316862,d.bmk Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Education Trust; Employer Health Benefits 2008 Annual Survey; 2008; Web; http://ehbs.kff.org/?page=charts&id=1&sn=6&p=1. L’Ecluse Kathleen; Poor people are sick more, get less health care; Examiner.com; 2009, Web; http://www.examiner.com/article/poor-people-are-sick-more-get-less-health-care May, J. Paul and Cunningham, J. Thomas.; Tough Trade-offs: Medical Bills, Family Finance: and Access to Care; Center for Studying Health System Change; 2004. Monaco M. Ralph and Phelps H. John; Health care prices, the federal budget, and economic growth; Health Affairs; 1995; 14.2; pp. 248-259. Rowland, Diane; The Adequacy of Health Insurance; Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee, 2009; Web; http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/7870.pdf Schoen, C.; Insured But Not Protected; Health Affairs; 2005. Turiano, Laura et.al. ; Health-care reform and the right to health in the USA; The Lancet; 2009; 374.9705; p.1887 Read More