Healthcare Reform

By Dana A. Kuhn, PhD, President and Founder, Patient Services Inc.
The following article appeared in PSI Post Script Informer, Fall 2009 edition. It is reprinted here with permission of the author.

As someone who represents tens of thousands of patients throughout the United States with chronic and catastrophic illnesses through Patient Services Incorporated (PSI), I can attest to two key components vital to the success of any health insurance reform initiative: Access and Affordability.

For too long, health insurance providers have denied coverage, dropped coverage or enforced long waiting periods for pre-existing conditions upon the sickest Americans, thus cost shifting them onto government public assistance programs which increase our taxes while the insurance industry increases the returns for their stock holders. The proposed healthcare reform plans will provide those without access, the opportunity to obtain health insurance through a government offered plan without the aforementioned barriers. Unfortunately, until this happens, health insurance will be a luxury only for those who can afford it, instead of a right for all Americans.

Those fortunate enough to access health coverage must decide how to pay for it. The U.S. Trustee Program/U.S. Department of Justice cites median income in the United States at $39,751 for one earner and approximately $56,000 for a two-person household. Economists are predicting a radical change in household median incomes for 2010 due to rising unemployment, housing foreclosures and increased credit debt. Americans will battle to retain and afford their health coverage due to these challenges. Those with expensive chronic illnesses or without access to health insurance due to affordability cannot win the battle without reforming the system.

For 20 years, PSI has collected data demonstrating what middle class Americans can afford for healthcare costs. Most middle class families can afford from 7-13% of their annual income in healthcare. Beyond these percentages, families are forced toward a downward vortex of financial ruin. Our data illustrates the average family supporting a chronic illness spends $3,167 per month on expenses (health insurance, taxes, housing, transportation, food, utilities, debt and out-of-pocket/co-payments), leaving a deficit of $501.00 each month. This level of deficit is unsustainable and contributes to our nation’s one million health-related bankruptcies each year. If statistics are true, by the age of 60, at least 60 percent of Americans will develop a chronic illness. Will you have access to a policy and be able to afford treatment or be forced into bankruptcy?

Providing access and affordable options and ending the discrimination tactics of the health insurance industry will increase access to care. Without this, uninsured Americans will be forced to use emergency rooms for their primary care at the increase of our taxes to cover uncompensated care. Factually, it is less costly to pay a premium than to pay for emergency room visits.

The United States healthcare system is a derisory system needing repair. Many say it will cost a trillion dollars to fix. Your misfiring, rough driving car needs fixing. Do you incur the cost now to fix it, or wait until the damage penetrates the engine further resulting in more costly repairs and compounding inconveniences? We either incur the costs now and fix the healthcare system or pay for it later with greater consequences, even collapse. I urge you to join me in encouraging our leaders to work in a bi-partisan fashion to find solutions to these challenges.