The favorite Republican scare tactic of late is to argue that Americans will have to wait to get care if health care reform passes. In fact, the United States already has long waits for ill and uninsured Americans. These Americans generally put off dealing with an illness because they are worried about the costs of treatment; some who try to get treatment quickly become frustrated with the fact that most specialists will not see them unless they have a $300-$500 up front payment to shell out.
According to Business Week,The situation with costs in the American health care system is so bad that half of all Americans have put off needed medical treatment in the past year:
"The Commonwealth study did find one area where the U.S. was first by a wide margin: 51% of sick Americans surveyed did not visit a doctor, get a needed test, or fill a prescription within the past two years because of cost. No other country came close."
Unfortunately, health problems left untended usually get worse. Cancer grows, treatable kidney conditions turn into conditions that cannot be treated without dialysis, HIV turns into AIDS, brutal diseases like ALS and Parkinson's evolve more quickly without proper treatment, causing a person's physical state to decline.
The failure to get up front treatment can be fatal. Take the case of Kimberly Young. Young graduated from college last December. Since her graduation, Young had been working two jobs. But neither of her jobs offered health insurance. When she became ill with swine flu two weeks ago, Young put off going to the doctor because she was worried about the costs of the visit and of the expensive Tamiflu medication. Young's condition deteriorated, and she went to the urgent care center. Tragically, Kimberly Young had to wait too long for medical care in the American health care system:
"Young became ill about two weeks ago, but didn’t seek care initially because she didn’t have health insurance and was worried about the cost, according to Brent Mowery, her friend and former roommate.
(Young's friend Brent) Mowery said Young eventually went to an urgent care facility in Hamilton where she was given pain medication and then sent home.
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Young’s condition suddenly worsened and her roommate drove her to McCullough Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford, where she was flown in critical condition to University Hospital in Cincinnati.
“That’s the most tragic part about it. If she had insurance, she would have gone to the doctor,” Mowery said."
The fundamental unfairness of the American health care system is seen in the individual stories described above. Uninsured patients pay double what insured patients pay for their health care, but get half as much treatment.
The failed health care system is also costly to American taxpayer. The helicopter ride Young had to take to the urban hospital costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, an amount which will be subsidized by the federal government. A study in Health Affairs found that the American government spends about $33 billion subsidizing "uncompensated care," a term policy makers use for the payments made to providers who see uninsured patients.
The system as it is has long, and frequently deadly, wait times. It rations care based on your career choices-- a bar tender like Young is far less likely to have quality health insurance, but a trial lawyer probably has the best of the best in terms of coverage. And it costs the American taxpayer $33 billion a year to maintain this broken health care system.
A health care reform bill with a strong public option--a health care reform bill which allowed millions of Americans the choice between subsidizing the high salaries and lavish lifestyles of insurance bureaucrats, and a not-for-profit, government-backed public option that is administered by federal employees--would eliminate this unfair system. It would give people like Kimberly Young the ability to go to the doctor without worrying about medical bills. In short, it'd save lives.
Call your Senator on the Finance Committee and tell them to vote for a public option, and do what doctors do every day: save lives.
H/T Thinkprogress.