A scandal of epic proportions
Millions more in U.S. lose health care
By Sharon Eolis, R.N.
Recently a scheduled surgery for an
unemployed, disabled worker who had suffered a severe hip
injury on the job had to be canceled.
This Latino worker, who is married and has two children, was
entitled to compensation for the injury. But he and his family
had no health insurance. His unemployment insurance had also
run out.
At a physical exam in preparation for the
compensation-covered hip surgery, he was told he had high blood
pressure and a heart problem and was wheezing from an asthma
attack.
Before he could get his hip taken care of, he had to have a
doctor treat his medical problems. But before he could get a
doctor, he had to get Medicaid.
This is the kind of frustrating, and sometimes
life-threatening, situation that could face millions of people
who have no medical insurance in the United States.
In September the Census Bureau issued a report titled
"Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2002." It
revealed that more than 43.6 million poor and working people
had no health insurance. Last year saw the biggest increase in
the uninsured in a decade: 2.4 million people.
As the cost of health care spirals out of control, business
owners have cut back on coverage for their employees and passed
on increased premiums to the workers. Many workers unable to
pay the premiums have no health insurance.
The number of workers with employer-sponsored health
coverage fell by 1.3 million in 2002, to 175.3 million, even as
the total population grew by 3.9 million.
Ronald Polleck, executive director of Families U.S.A., a
consumer group, says: "It's hard to grasp the magnitude of the
number of uninsured. It exceeded the aggregate population of 24
states."
The number of full-time workers without health insurance
rose to 19.9 million in 2002. That is an increase of 857,000
over 2001.
Medicaid is a state-run program of health coverage for the
poor. Many states have cut back on Medicaid programs because of
the Draconian reduction in federal funds they receive for
health and welfare, education and housing. Those hardest hit
are the working poor who barely earn minimum wage, and are
disproportionately people of color.
About 8.5 million children were uninsured in 2002. They
account for 11.6 percent of the children under 18. When parents
lose their jobs, their children are often eligible for
Medicaid, but many states in fiscal crisis are not pursuing
enrollment of children with no health care.
In 2002 more men lost their employer-sponsored coverage than
women. The number of uninsured men rose to 23.3 million as
women jumped to 20.2 million. Texas had the highest proportion
of uninsured workers--24.1 percent.
According to the Census Bureau report, one-third of the
foreign-born population was uninsured--about 43 percent of
non-citizens and 17.5 percent of naturalized citizens.
Some 45 percent of those living in poverty, even though they
had full-time jobs, had no health coverage.
The uninsured rate for African Amer icans--20.2 percent--was
almost twice that of "non-Hispanic whites."
This growing misery for the workers in the United States has
nothing to do with a lack of resources. The Bush administration
has just asked for $87 billion to continue the war and
occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan driven by profits for the
oil and military industries.
Cuts on the federal level soon mean cuts at the state and
local level. Medicaid, Medi care, well-baby clinics, pre-natal
clinics, child-care centers, low-income housing--all are in
danger as budgets are cut to pay for imperialist war and
occupation.
Larry Holmes, one of the leaders of the Act Now to Stop War
& End Racism coalition, says: "Just as this report comes
out that an unprecedented number of people have lost health
insurance, we see the Congress preparing to vote $87 billion
more for the occupation and war. The government is literally
choosing to fund death and destruction over health and life. It
is travesties like this that are turning more and more working
people against Bush's endless war."
ANSWER expects many groups to address this issue at the Oct.
25 mobilizations in Washington and San Francisco to end the war
and occupation of Iraq.
Reprinted from the Oct. 16, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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