INDIANAPOLIS - Within weeks of my monthly COBRA payment to Anthem ballooning from $940 to $1,160, Harvard University released a study that revealed close to half of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to a family medical crisis.
Released on Feb. 5, the Harvard study noted that in 2001, there were 1.45 million American families who filed for bankruptcy. In a study of 1,771 personal bankruptcy filers in five federal courts, 931 were interviewed in depth and "half cited medical causes. Even middle-class insured families often fall prey to financial catastrophe when sick." That study has relevance here in Indiana, where its Northern and Southern District Federal Courts have been leading the nation in bankruptcies in recent years. Some tie the Hoosier bankruptcies to compulsive gambling or predatory lending practices. But it's not much of a stretch to conclude that the national trend Harvard researchers revealed is applicable to Indiana. The health insurance crisis is playing a role in crippling the Hoosier economy.
In Marion this past week, 35 physicians gathered to protest the health care system. "Insurance companies don't care about medicine," Dr. Mike Roper was quoted in the Marion Chronicle-Tribune, revealing that his income has declined every year for the past decade because decreased reimbursements from insurance companies. "They care about statistics."
Dr. Keith Rockey explained, "The system is broken. It's so far broken it's mind-boggling. What we need in this country is a conversation about the health care system. We need to begin that in Marion, Indiana. If we don't begin at the grass-roots level, it won't happen."
Indiana is the same state where Anthem CEO Larry Glasscock reported record earnings ($743 million in 2003, up 41 percent from the year before) and he made a nifty $42.5 million bonus for himself. While Anthem executives and stockholders bask, dealing with the company personally is an on-going and unique hell, and human resources and doctors offices across the state will tell you the same thing.
The same week the Harvard study was released, President Bush said in his State of the Union address, "To make our economy stronger and more competitive, America must reward, not punish, the efforts and dreams of entrepreneurs. Small business is the path of advancement, especially for women and minorities, so we must free small businesses from needless regulation and protect honest job-creators from junk lawsuits."
I'm all for protection from needless regulation and junk lawsuits, and I recognize the need to, at some point, reposition the Social Security apparatus, which President Bush described as a crisis. But the real crisis - TODAY - is with health care.
"We do have a crisis in the cost in health insurance, particularly for small business America," U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Columbus, said. "There is no question concerning the spiraling costs of Medicare will, over time, be a much greater threat to the fabric of the federal government in terms of its percentage of obligations confronting this nation with employer based health insurance."
President Bush went on to say, "To make our economy stronger and more productive, we must make health care more affordable, and give families greater access to good coverage and more control over their health decisions."
His answer? A call for Congress for tax credits to help "low income workers," a community health center in every poor county, tax credits to help low-income workers buy insurance, association health plans for small businesses and their employees, and expanded health savings accounts.
On the Indiana General Assembly front in a state where 561,000 Hoosiers are without health insurance (9.2 percent of the population), there are three bills that would also reform the system.
SB 269 authored by Sen. Pat Miller would allow small employers to work out plans that won't cover pre-existing conditions. SB 222 would allow insurance companies to waive coverage of those conditions for five years. HB 1075 would waive conditions without a time limit.
If you've had a heart attack, for instance, but will not be covered for any subsequent heart problems, that essentially means that thousands of families and sole proprietor businesses will still be faced with future bankruptcy. Some solution.
The real problem is that after First Lady Hillary Clinton's 1993 "health care reform" fiasco, the political will to effectively deal with the roots of the problem has vanished. President Bush and Indiana legislators are nibbling around the margins. And when they get done with their work sometime later this year, there are still going to be thousands of vulnerable families and businesses.
The politicians all like to tell you how they've staved off tax hikes, but essentially the health insurance scourge is the great ongoing tax hike on the American middle class. My COBRA payment is almost bigger than my house and care payments combined. Since when was that OK?
Politicians like Gov. Mitch Daniels tell us that it is the entrepreneurs who will fuel Indiana's "comeback." We'll be in a better position to fuel the economy and create jobs when we're not getting screwed by a health care system that puts our families at risk.
decaturdailydemocrat.com
Released on Feb. 5, the Harvard study noted that in 2001, there were 1.45 million American families who filed for bankruptcy. In a study of 1,771 personal bankruptcy filers in five federal courts, 931 were interviewed in depth and "half cited medical causes. Even middle-class insured families often fall prey to financial catastrophe when sick." That study has relevance here in Indiana, where its Northern and Southern District Federal Courts have been leading the nation in bankruptcies in recent years. Some tie the Hoosier bankruptcies to compulsive gambling or predatory lending practices. But it's not much of a stretch to conclude that the national trend Harvard researchers revealed is applicable to Indiana. The health insurance crisis is playing a role in crippling the Hoosier economy.
In Marion this past week, 35 physicians gathered to protest the health care system. "Insurance companies don't care about medicine," Dr. Mike Roper was quoted in the Marion Chronicle-Tribune, revealing that his income has declined every year for the past decade because decreased reimbursements from insurance companies. "They care about statistics."
Dr. Keith Rockey explained, "The system is broken. It's so far broken it's mind-boggling. What we need in this country is a conversation about the health care system. We need to begin that in Marion, Indiana. If we don't begin at the grass-roots level, it won't happen."
Indiana is the same state where Anthem CEO Larry Glasscock reported record earnings ($743 million in 2003, up 41 percent from the year before) and he made a nifty $42.5 million bonus for himself. While Anthem executives and stockholders bask, dealing with the company personally is an on-going and unique hell, and human resources and doctors offices across the state will tell you the same thing.
The same week the Harvard study was released, President Bush said in his State of the Union address, "To make our economy stronger and more competitive, America must reward, not punish, the efforts and dreams of entrepreneurs. Small business is the path of advancement, especially for women and minorities, so we must free small businesses from needless regulation and protect honest job-creators from junk lawsuits."
I'm all for protection from needless regulation and junk lawsuits, and I recognize the need to, at some point, reposition the Social Security apparatus, which President Bush described as a crisis. But the real crisis - TODAY - is with health care.
"We do have a crisis in the cost in health insurance, particularly for small business America," U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Columbus, said. "There is no question concerning the spiraling costs of Medicare will, over time, be a much greater threat to the fabric of the federal government in terms of its percentage of obligations confronting this nation with employer based health insurance."
President Bush went on to say, "To make our economy stronger and more productive, we must make health care more affordable, and give families greater access to good coverage and more control over their health decisions."
His answer? A call for Congress for tax credits to help "low income workers," a community health center in every poor county, tax credits to help low-income workers buy insurance, association health plans for small businesses and their employees, and expanded health savings accounts.
On the Indiana General Assembly front in a state where 561,000 Hoosiers are without health insurance (9.2 percent of the population), there are three bills that would also reform the system.
SB 269 authored by Sen. Pat Miller would allow small employers to work out plans that won't cover pre-existing conditions. SB 222 would allow insurance companies to waive coverage of those conditions for five years. HB 1075 would waive conditions without a time limit.
If you've had a heart attack, for instance, but will not be covered for any subsequent heart problems, that essentially means that thousands of families and sole proprietor businesses will still be faced with future bankruptcy. Some solution.
The real problem is that after First Lady Hillary Clinton's 1993 "health care reform" fiasco, the political will to effectively deal with the roots of the problem has vanished. President Bush and Indiana legislators are nibbling around the margins. And when they get done with their work sometime later this year, there are still going to be thousands of vulnerable families and businesses.
The politicians all like to tell you how they've staved off tax hikes, but essentially the health insurance scourge is the great ongoing tax hike on the American middle class. My COBRA payment is almost bigger than my house and care payments combined. Since when was that OK?
Politicians like Gov. Mitch Daniels tell us that it is the entrepreneurs who will fuel Indiana's "comeback." We'll be in a better position to fuel the economy and create jobs when we're not getting screwed by a health care system that puts our families at risk.
decaturdailydemocrat.com
