By Robin A. Cohen, Ph.D.; Whitney K. Kirzinger, M.P.H.; and Renee M. Gindi, Ph.D.
National Center for Health Statistics, CDC, June 2013
The percentage of persons under age 65 who were in families having problems paying medical bills decreased from 21.7% (57.8 million) in the first 6 months of 2011 to 20.3% (54.2 million) in the first 6 months of 2012.
In the first 6 months of 2012, among persons under age 65, 36.3% of those who were uninsured, 14.0% of those who had private coverage, and 25.6% of those who had public coverage were in families having problems paying medical bills in the past 12 months. (Coverage status applies only to the day of the interview.)
The āprivate health insurance coverageā category includes persons who had any comprehensive private insurance plan (including health maintenance and preferred provider organizations).
The āpublic health plan coverageā category includes Medicaid, Childrenās Health Insurance Program (CHIP), state-sponsored or other government-sponsored health plans, Medicare, and military plans.
Problems paying medical bills in past 12 monthsāBased on the following question: āIn the past 12 months did [you/ anyone in the family] have problems paying or were unable to pay any medical bills? Include bills for doctors, dentists, hospitals, therapists, medication, equipment, nursing home or home care.ā
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/problems_paying_medical_bills_january_2011-june_2012.pdf
Comment:
By Don McCanne, M.D.
As we already knew, about one-fifth of people under 65 are in families that have problems paying medical bills. In the United States we are used to that. But why should people in public plans have greater problems than those with comprehensive private insurance?
Most people under 65 with comprehensive private plans have incomes and can bear some limited out-of-pocket expenses for health care, though 14 percent still have problems paying medical bills.
Most people under 65 who have public health plan coverage qualify for those plans partly on the basis of having inadequate incomes. Their eligibility can vary throughout the year and many of them have intervals with no coverage at all and yet still face medical bills. Even when they have public coverage, they often face out-of-pocket expenses for services and products that may not be included such as medications, dental care, physical therapy, equipment, home care, or care obtained outside of networks (such as Medicaid managed care). These expenses are a problem for one-fourth of those with public coverage.
This demonstrates that it is not enough that we have public plans that serve as safety-nets. These are unstable, fragmented, and incomplete methods of financing health care. Even the private plans are as well, to some extent.
Imagine how this contrasts with a system that would cover everyone, throughout life, and with no deductibles nor coinsurance. You simply get the care you need when you need it. Why do we keep just imaging this? We can have such a system if enough of us demand it.