Pressure for Universal Health Care Builds in Detroit
Legislators Call for Government-Subsidized Health Care Plan Burns Big Three
May 9, 2005
Detroit Auto Scene
www.detroitautoscene.com
By Antonio Vasquez
Staff Reporter
U.S. Rep. John Dingell recently spoke in support of universal health care coverage during a Cover the Uninsured Week event at Campus Martius in downtown Detroit.
Out-of-control health care costs are one of those massive public policy issues affecting all Americans in different ways.
If you’re a high-ranking executive operating in a global marketplace, the high price of employer-subsidized health insurance negatively impacts your business model because foreign competitors do not bear the same financial burden.
Or if you’re a struggling restaurant worker like Charlotte Jasper of Detroit, not having any health insurance at all is a matter of life and death.
In the case of General Motors Corp., it adds roughly $1,500 in costs to every vehicle produced, whereas the costs borne by Japanese competitors such as Toyota are negligible because it’s headquartered in a country with a national health care system.
And in the case of Jasper, you nearly burn down your house after leaving the stove on because you passed out from combined symptoms of high blood pressure and diabetes that could have been controlled had you the money to afford proper treatment.
While one situation is a simple matter of economics, the other is a moral issue that ultimately determines how advanced we are as a society.
But for organizers of national Cover the Uninsured Week, both manifestations point to a growing problem deserving of more public awareness as well as the appropriate federal intervention.
In promoting over 1,600 events across the country and over 50 in Michigan alone, Cover the Uninsured Week organizers say that local and regional efforts are important, but a comprehensive, nationwide solution is what is truly needed.
Universal health care – that is providing health insurance for all regardless of position along the economic totem pole – has long been a mainstay of the Democratic Party platform, so it was no surprise that at last week’s kickoff event, the state’s top democratic policymakers were the ones clamoring for change.
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, along with U.S. Reps. John Dingell and John Conyers, gathered in downtown Detroit’s Campus Martius Park to lend their support, as did Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and Macomb County Board of Commissioners Chair Nancy White.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm could not attend due to a prior commitment, but she sent along a signed proclamation making the week-long event official for the state.
Regarding the negative impact that spiraling health care costs pose to sectors such as the automotive industry, Dingell noted that American companies still manufacture the best product, but their ability to compete is hampered by the billions spent on health care for active workers, retirees, and their dependents.
In 2004, for example, GM dished out roughly $5.2 billion in health care-related expenses for about 125,000 active employees and 339,000 retirees, while Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group spent $2.0 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.
On the other hand, Toyota Motor Corp. covered health insurance payments for about 64,500 active workers and less than 3,000 retirees in Japan.
In fact, according to a recent AutoWeek article, Toyota’s health care costs are so negligible they aren’t even a line item in the company’s financial statements.
“Every country with whom we compete pays for the health insurance costs of their workers,” Dingell said.
“If you look at some of those wonderful cars driving down the road, you’ll find that there is $1,500 worth of health care costs in that automobile,” he noted. “Now if you look at the slightly less wonderful foreign cars driving down the road, you’ll find there are virtually zero health insurance costs for those vehicles.
“The economics of this is very simple; this country can no longer afford to compete until and unless we address the problem of providing adequate health insurance for our people,” Dingell said.
Stabenow added: “What is the most disturbing to me … is that for the first time this year, there will be more automobiles made in Canada than in Michigan.
“That’s not because of wage differences, that’s not because of environmental regulation differences, that’s because of health care, so this is absolutely an economic issue.”
Also of concern to lawmakers is the alarming number of Americans who live without any form of insurance.
Nationally, there are roughly 45 million Americans without health care, 1.08 million of which live in Michigan, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
The crisis is so severe that being uninsured or underinsured extends beyond the poor, even affecting those who are gainfully employed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that nearly 20 million adult workers have no health coverage, including roughly 447,000 workers in Michigan.
Jasper, who shared her own personal story at the Cover the Uninsured kickoff event, is one of those Americans.
She now has the means to treat her high blood pressure and diabetes, but only because her daughter is a nurse and supplies her with free samples of costly medication Jasper would otherwise not be able to afford.
“What if people like me didn’t have a daughter who’s a nurse, who can help them?” Jasper lamented. “All I say to the world is please help us. We need it real bad.”