Americans who do not have health insurance are still going to require health care, from time to time. A government study shows that uninsured Americans are leaving hospitals with unpaid bills of up to $49 billion a year. This is happening with people who are both below and above the poverty line.
A study done by the Department of Health and Human Services revealed some interesting results. It probably wouldn’t surprise anyone to know that families whose income places them below the poverty line, and who do not have health insurance, cannot pay their hospital bills. The study found that on average, an uninsured family is able to pay off only about 12% of their total hospital bill.
The interesting part was that families who were uninsured, and whose incomes placed them 400% above the poverty line, were also unable to pay their entire hospital bills in full. This equates to a family of four with an income of $88,000 a year. Despite the fact that these families made a lot more money than the families who were below poverty level, having no health insurance still had big effect. These families were only able to pay off around 37% of their hospital bill.
Another interesting thing that the researchers found was that most of the people who were uninsured had “virtually no” savings. Around a third of the people who had no health insurance also did not have any financial assets. This means that there are a lot of people who are just one serious illness, or one accident, away from bankruptcy.
It doesn’t help matters that people who have no health insurance get charged as much as two thirds more than people who do have health insurance. This is because insurance companies can negotiate with hospitals in order to get a good deal for their customers. People who do not have health insurance lack this kind of advocate, and get stuck with a higher bill.
On the other hand, Paul Winfree, the senior policy analyst at Heritage Foundation thinks differently. He feels that the families who make $88,000 a year, but who do not buy health insurance, are choosing not to buy it. He feels that these families should be taking a closer look at their spending habits, and at their saving habits. He doesn’t disagree that the cost of hospitalization is expensive. However, he feels that these families actually could afford health insurance, and are instead choosing to “exploit the system”.
Image by Ken Jarvis on Flickr