Grim statistics focus on uninsured as Catholics promote dialogue

Stat House
April 11, 2008

Grim statistics focus on uninsured as Catholics promote dialogue
By Nancy Frazier O'Brien Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Living without health insurance is bad for your health.

That simple truth was affirmed once again in "Dying for Coverage," a new report from Families USA that estimates how many people between the ages of 25 and 64 are likely to die in each U.S. state because of a lack of health coverage.

Using data from the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Urban Institute, the Washington-based national organization for health care consumers issued reports for each state and the District of Columbia, analyzing how mortality rates for that population were affected in 2006 by a lack of health insurance.

Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said in an April 8 teleconference that the report "highlights how our inadequate system of health coverage condemns a great number of people to an early death simply because they don't have the same access to health care as their insured neighbors."

The worst news was in Texas and California. It was estimated that more than seven Texans of working age and more than eight Californians of working age die each day because they don't have health insurance.

The reasons are many. The nearly 47 million uninsured Americans are less likely to have a regular source of health care outside the emergency room, more likely to go without screenings and preventive care, and often postpone or forgo needed medical care or fail to fill needed prescriptions.

The uninsured also pay more for the medical care they do get. Because they cannot negotiate the same discounts on hospital and doctor bills that insurance companies do, uninsured patients often pay 2.5 times more than patients with health insurance, according to Families USA.

But the insured also pick up the tab for much of the uncompensated care provided to the uninsured, Pollack said in the teleconference. He estimated that the average family paid just under $11,000 for insurance premiums in 2005, with $922 of that going to pay for uncompensated care.

American taxpayers also devote a large portion of their federal taxes each year to health care, according to an analysis prepared by the National Priorities Project in anticipation of the annual tax deadline, April 15.

The nonprofit research organization based in Northampton, Mass., said the median-income family in the United States paid $2,628 in federal income taxes in 2007. Of that, $1,109 went to military spending, including veterans' benefits, interest on military debt and the war in Iraq, and $581 went to health care, including the federal portion of Medicare spending.

The remaining $938 was divided among interest on nonmilitary debt ($269), anti-poverty programs ($228), education, training and social services ($115), government and law enforcement ($102), housing and community development ($88), environment, energy and science ($69), transportation, commerce and agriculture ($40) and international affairs ($27).

In other words, for every federal income tax dollar, more than 42 cents goes to military obligations, 22 cents goes to health care, 10 cents to interest on nonmilitary debt and nearly 9 cents to anti-poverty programs. Less than a nickel goes to each of the other six categories of government spending.

As it has for the past five years, the Catholic Health Association of the United States is preparing to mark Cover the Uninsured Week April 27-May 3 with a variety of events aimed at raising awareness of the problem. Many Catholic hospitals and other health care institutions also schedule health fairs or campaigns to enroll more people in existing state or federal health programs during the week.

In a recent letter to those involved in Catholic health care ministries, Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is CHA president and CEO, said the United States is "approaching a defining moment in the future of American health care."

With the coming election of a new president and Congress, "we have an unprecedented and important opportunity to build consensus for change in our health care system -- and to bring messages from Catholic social teaching to the dialogue," she added.

Sister Carol's letter served as an introduction to "Building Consensus for Change," a 31-page guide for Catholic health care leaders and facilities. The guide offers step-by-step instructions on how to organize round-table discussions on health reform, not only during Cover the Uninsured Week but in the weeks leading to the November elections and even beyond.

Earlier this year CHA issued "Our Vision for U.S. Health Care" listing the core values -- human dignity, common good, stewardship, concern for the poor and vulnerable, justice and pluralism -- that should guide any health reform effort.

"Whether you are able to organize future events or simply encourage discussion among individuals, maintaining a dialogue of diverse views on the issue will help raise the visibility of the issue, encourage collaboration and lay the groundwork for real reform," says the new guide in its conclusions. "And basing that dialogue on the core values that should guide health policy will help us focus on the ultimate goal of a health care system that works for everyone."

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