About 86.7 million people nationwide – a third of those younger than 65 – were uninsured at some point in 2007 or 2008, based on new Families USA analysis of government data. Of those people, the health care consumer advocacy group found, 74.5 percent had been uninsured for at least six months, and 60.2 percent for nine months or more. The figures supplement existing data from the U.S. Census Bureau showing that 45.7 million Americans were uninsured in 2007.
U.S. Sen. Sheldon A. Whitehouse, D-R.I., a longtime advocate of health care reform, spoke at the report’s unveiling last Wednesday, on the day before attending a White House summit on health care reform. He answered questions about the report and his hopes for change.
PBN: How did you come to be involved in the release of this study?
WHITEHOUSE: Families USA invited me, and I was honored to join them.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
PBN: Were you surprised by the numbers?
WHITEHOUSE: Yes. Unfortunately, it no longer seems surprising to hear that more than 45 million Americans are without health insurance at any given point each year – but to hear that more than twice that number spent periods uninsured over the last two years is staggering.
PBN: You called this study a “reality check” on the urgency of health care reform. Do you believe health care reform that produces universal coverage is urgent, or do we need an intermediate step first, especially in the current economic and political climate?
WHITEHOUSE: The longer it takes for us to address the problems in our health care system, the harder the problem will be to solve down the road. We must fix our health care system now, and we must do it in a comprehensive way. To me, that means comprehensive coverage within a delivery system that provides high-quality, efficient, accessible, coordinated and affordable care. That’s why President Obama’s energy on this is so welcome.
PBN: President Obama has proposed budgeting, through tax increases on the wealthy, for a fund to pay for still-unspecified reforms. What do you think of that plan?
WHITEHOUSE: I’m glad that, unlike President Bush, President Obama is committed enough to serious health care reform that he planned for it in his budget. I serve on the Senate Budget Committee, which is responsible for crafting the Senate’s budget proposal. While I’m not yet certain what mechanism the committee will agree on how to fund health care reform, I know it’s a high priority not only for me but for U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who chairs the committee.
PBN: You have been an advocate of a wide range of health care system improvement and reform efforts. Along with expanding coverage, what are your priorities for health care reform in the next one or two years?
WHITEHOUSE: Health care’s fundamental problem is market failure: The system does not pursue quality or invest in prevention, even where improved care would lower cost; health care does not have the information technology infrastructure to support the improvements we need; and the payment structure does not serve the public interest – providers are compensated based on the quantity of care they provide, rather than on whether that care conforms to best practices or delivers best outcomes. We need to fix each of these problems, together; doing so will save money and make the system run more efficiently, so that we can succeed in securing affordable health insurance for every family, without swamping the boat.
“The system does not pursue quality or invest in prevention…”
While it is true that America has not invested enough in preventative care it is unfortunate that Senator Whitehouse would say that our medical “system” does not pursue quality.
Regarding quality of medical care, a study of the US vaunted UK National Health care system in 2002 showed that five year cancer survival rates for UK women were 52.7% and, for UK men, 44.8%. UK cancer survivor rates were on par with Malta at 54.6% for women and 42.3% for men. During the same period five year cancer survival rates in the USA led all measured countries at 62.9% for women and 66.3% for men.
Government’s strongest potential role in healthcare may be to promote development of healthy lifestyle habits among our youth now to reverse the obesity, heart disease and diabetes trends apparent later in life.
From the UK-based data above it seems that government systems have difficulty with treating cancer, which often requires immediate and aggressive treatment.
The decisions around treatment of life-ending diseases are best left to physicians and their patients and not in the hands of ICD-9 table toting aparatchiks making cost-based value of treatment decisions on human lives.
I agree with Grant about the quality of our health system. Why do people from other countries flock to the US for critical care?
Additionally, I find it interesting that the same congressional representatives who so strongly oppose our government’s interference with a woman’s right to choose what she will do with her body are the same ones who want the power to deny an elderly woman her hip replacement because they deem it not cost effective. I want that to remain a decision between the doctor and the patient. Isn’t that the line we’ve been fed when it comes to abortion? Let’s be consistent Senator.