The Health Insurance Coach

With more than half of U.S. states facing budgetary shortfalls, lawmakers are beginning to consider "painful" cuts in funding for subsidized health care programs aimed at providing low cost health insurance and services to the poor, in order to reduce spending and eliminate deficits.

With housing prices falling nationwide, and the economy slowing towards what some call a recession, Kaiser Daily Health Policy Reports reveal that cuts to health care programs are usually the first to be approved. This is because reducing low cost health insurance benefits and other subsidized programs offers immediate savings to struggling states.

But what ends up happening is that those who need help the most won't get it. Low cost health insurance programs offer state-subsidized coverage to millions of Americans who can't afford ballooning medical costs. These people are also those most likely to suffer late-stage cancer diagnosis, diabetes, and a host of health problems associated with not having enough health care.

Hopefully the cuts won't all go through - budgets aren't set in stone just yet, and with 47 million uninsured Americans out there, legislators know that low cost health insurance is on everybody's mind these days. But it's certain that until something in the health care system is changed, those who need health services the most will still have to struggle to get them.

According to recently released data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, access to health insurance has led to a growing gap between the life expectancies of the rich and poor.

As it's reported by MSN Health, this disparity in life expectancy has almost doubled between more affluent Americans and the nation's poorest residents over an 18-year period, with residents at top income levels living an average of 4.5 years longer than the poorest Americans.

And foremost among the reasons for this gap is access to health insurance.

But the truth is that while medical coverage is listed among the four main reasons for the earlier death of poorer Americans, access to health insurance impacts all of the reasons listed for the gap. People with insurance enjoy regular checkups with their doctors, and as such, are more aware of modern treatments for disease, are advised not to smoke by their doctors, and are also more likely to receive dietary advice from medical professionals.

All of which means that access to health insurance offers perhaps the biggest impact upon the health and well-being of all Americans today, rich or poor.

U.S. News and World Report released a poll this week that found that American perceptions of health insurance are closely tied to political affiliation.

As it's reported in their article, "68% of Republicans say they think our health care system is the best in the world while only 32% of Democrats and 40% of independents would make that claim."

The poll also found that nearly three quarters of Republicans believed that patients in the United States get better health insurance care and face shorter waiting times to see specialists or be admitted to a hospital than do their counterparts in Canada, France, or Great Britain. Meanwhile, less than half of Democrats and independents felt that way.

Although the United States spends more per capita on health care than other countries, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that the United States ranked last among 19 industrialized countries in preventable deaths, or those that shouldn't occur when people get timely, effective care.

This explains why it is that health insurance has taken a premier role for democratic presidential hopefuls, while it occupies a less important role in the campaign speeches of Republican nominee John McCain.

This week personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary examined how the lack of affordable health insurance, and increasing number of uninsured Americans, affects all U.S. residents, even those with health coverage.

As it's reported at Kaiser's Daily Health Policy Report, the cost of coverage for U.S. residents who have insurance is increasing because the number of uninsured keeps rising. According to a Families USA study, "unpaid health care expenses for the uninsured added an average $922 in 2005 to premiums for employer-sponsored health plans, and the extra costs could increase to $1,502 in 2010."

And this doesn't take into account the lack of affordable health insurance for small business owners, who more and more are forced to shift the burden of coverage to their employees. It's known that individual policy holders pay the price for the uninsured too, though their costs are harder to gauge.

Politicians and health care specialists alike have been arguing for several years that by making affordable health insurance available to all Americans, we could actually save money in medical malpractice costs and lowered health care premiums. However, this is one of the first studies to publicly uncover exactly how much the insured are forced to pay when the uninsured can't afford coverage.

Forbes puts it well in their article this week: it isn't national security that's keeping Americans awake at night these days, it's "a sick child or an elderly relative with an urgent health problem;" it's a lack of affordable health insurance.

And the candidates know it. Whether it's Clinton's universal plan, Obama's mandate for children, or McCain's tax incentives, today's presidential hopefuls know that affordable health insurance is of utmost importance to American citizens. The concern is this: will any of them follow through?

There are critics on all sides to suggest that even if they do, the new insurance ideas will fail. They say that Clinton's plan will be too expensive, that Obama's plan doesn't do enough, and that McCain's plan amounts to price control and won't incentivize enough people.

But whether we try one of them, or all of them, millions of people are waiting for an affordable health insurance plan that they can rely on to protect themselves and their loved ones. In November the people will choose the candidate that they believe will best represent their needs to the health care system. With all of the attention it's been receiving in the media and around the country, something will have to be done.

And that's the best health insurance news we've heard in a very long time.

The Iowa Senate Human Resources Committee voted this week to approve a bill that would require nearly all families in the state to obtain medical coverage for their children by 2011. By mandating coverage for kids under an Iowa health insurance plan, it is hoped that almost all of the uninsured children in the state would be covered.

According to the report at Kaiser Daily Health, "the bill would provide coverage to children in low-income families through Hawk-I, the state's version of SCHIP." Between that and the mandate, the measure would extend coverage to nearly all of the 3% of Iowa children who are uninsured.

The biggest concern so far is, of course, cost. It hasn't been explained as to who would foot the bill, and how much it would cost taxpayers. And while extending coverage to children is a major selling point, it isn't the only costly portion of the Iowa health insurance bill.

The bill also would encourage use of electronic health records and require physicians and hospitals to submit "quality measures" that would be publicly reported. The measures are not defined in the bill, but they would include hospital infection and mortality rates.

Whether or not the bill will pass remains to be seen, as it moves now to the senate. Most state citizens hope that Iowa health insurance will indeed extend coverage to the children, offering them the chance to grow into healthy, happy adults.

Seniors are having a rough year so far in terms of health insurance and health care costs. Just last week it was discovered that the costs of their most needed prescription drugs have been raised significantly in the last year. Now it seems that in order to protect their health seniors need a lot more money at retirement than most of them will have.

BusinessWeek reports that Boston-based Fidelity Investments released a study this week that finds that a couple (both partners age 65) retiring this year will need about $225,000 in savings to cover medical costs for the remainder of their lives. That's an increase of 4.7% from the $215,000 estimated for a couple retiring in 2007.

With baby boomers set to retire in upcoming years at record numbers, Medicare is likely to be strained beyond its ability to support their health care needs. In order to cover the rising costs of medication and treatments, many seniors will either turn to supplemental health insurance, or they will struggle to make ends meet.

Hopefully, upcoming legislation aimed at the health insurance industry will make it easier for everyone - including seniors - to get the kind of care they need. In the mean time, the best way to minimize costs is to live a healthy lifestyle, and attend regular doctor's visits to get the kind of support and guidance that we all need, regardless of our age.

In the last 15 years health insurance costs have soared for many reasons, one of the most obvious being the growing American reliance upon on prescription drugs. As expensive as they are life-saving, too many people are struggling to pay out-of-pocket costs that include their medications.

The online sale of prescription drugs has boomed in popularity in response to the need for less expensive medications. If you can get your heart medication for 1/4 of the cost online in Canada, who wouldn't? If you could save hundreds of dollars a month in health insurance costs, who wouldn't?

Unfortunately, this same phenomenon has endangered the lives of those who need special medical attention - many prescription drugs can be dangerous, and without proper guidance from a doctor they can lead to overdose and death.

Which is why Kaiser's Daily Health reports that President Bush has asked Congress to pass a bill that would restrict online sales of prescription drugs. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced the legislation in response to the death of Ryan Haight, an 18-year-old who overdosed on hydrocodone that he purchased online.

While such legislation may save the lives of addicts and unknowing victims, it will also land many Americans back in the health insurance situation that they find financially devastating.

The clearest answer to this problem is to make prescription drugs affordable here too, so that those who need them can get them and the medical follow ups that ensure safe use. Hopefully, that bill will find its way to Congress some time very soon.