Editorial, Opinion Pieces Examine Issue of the Uninsured
Several newspapers have recently published editorials and opinion pieces in response to "Cover the Uninsured Week," a media campaign led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that will run from May 10-May 16 to raise awareness about uninsured people in the United States. According to a study released by RWJF last week, more than 20 million employed U.S. adults lacked health insurance in 2002 (California Healthline, 5/5). Summaries of one editorial and four opinion pieces appear below.
Wichita Eagle: Hospitals have encountered "skyrocketing costs" in part because of uncollected payments from uninsured patients, a Wichita Eagle editorial states. Efforts to provide health care services through charities, "though heartening, remain Band-Aid solutions," according to the editorial. In addition, employers "have been hit hard" by rising insurance costs, causing some to offer limited benefits or eliminate coverage altogether, the editorial states. The editorial concludes that while the "ultimate goal" of providing health coverage for every U.S. resident will not be simple or inexpensive, it is "a matter of life and death" (Wichita Eagle, 5/9).
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Detroit Free Press: Working adults who currently have health insurance "may be as near as the next paycheck" to becoming one of the 44 million people in the United States without coverage, Jacqueline Jones, vice president of the United Way Community Services and chair of the Cover the Uninsured Week 2004 Steering Committee for Southeastern Michigan, writes in a Detroit Free Press opinion piece. Jones concludes that members of the community must "unite as one voice and express [the] concern to elected officials that all citizens have access to affordable, quality health care" (Jones, Detroit Free Press, 5/10).
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Houston Chronicle: The government could provide universal health coverage "for about what we're willing to pay for prescription drugs for those on Medicare," John Stobo, president of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, writes in a Houston Chronicle opinion piece. He adds that providing health coverage to all people would cost an additional $69 billion per year "if the insurance were typical of the sort now held by middle- and low-income Americans." The cost could be $34 billion per year if the uninsured were integrated into existing public insurance programs, Stobo says. He concludes, "If we can afford to help pay for drugs for all those on Medicare, we surely should be willing to identify resources to make sure everyone in our society has basic health care" (Stobo, Houston Chronicle, 5/10).
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Los Angeles Times: The health care industry is "on the brink of disaster" in part because of the number of uninsured U.S. residents who use emergency departments as their primary source of care, Neal Baer, executive producer of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," and Noah Wyle, a television actor in the series "ER" and spokesperson for "Cover the Uninsured Week," write in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. They state that uninsured adults generally are less healthy than those with insurance and often die younger. In addition, the influx of uninsured patients in EDs contributes to "interminable waiting lines," as well as a shortage of emergency staff, which affects quality of care for all patients, Baer and Wyle write. They state that they agree with a "clear majority" that providing universal health care coverage is the "single most important thing we can do to improve health care" (Baer/Wyle, Los Angeles Times, 5/8).
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel: The task of providing affordable universal health care coverage "is not a hospital-only issue," Linda Quick, president of the South Florida Healthcare and Hospital Association writes in a South Florida Sun-Sentinel opinion piece. "To be serious about looking at the cost of health care, one must look at all the expenditures," including prescription drug costs, health insurance premiums and additional revenue sources, according to Quick. The issue of the uninsured is "a national crisis that will not be solved by any one entity or industry," she writes. Quick concludes, "All the interested parties" -- including government, insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and consumer groups -- must find a "comprehensive solution" to the situation (Quick, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 5/10).