Back when I usd to post on MSN UK boards, the Brits and European posters found it unbelievable that the richest country in the world and one that claims to have moral superiority over all other countries has so many people who don't have health care insurance.
Just thought I'd throw that little tidbit in.
Now let's go with some facts. For every uninsured person who gets medical help and is unable to pay for that help, those who have insurance get stuck with their bill in the form of increased health care insurance premiums.
Group Tallies Families' 'Hidden Health Tax' .
The average family with health insurance in 2008 paid a "hidden health tax" of $1,017 to cover the health-care costs of the uninsured, according to a report released Thursday by advocacy group Families USA.
The report by the group, which promotes universal health insurance, found that a total of $42.7 billion in care for those without insurance was passed on to health insurers. The insurers, in turn, passed on the costs through higher premiums, the report said.
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When those without insurance sought care, often in emergency rooms, government and charities picked up more than a quarter of the $116 billion tab last year, the report said. More than a third was paid for by those seeking the care, and the rest was passed on to health insurers and eventually to insured people through higher costs, it said.
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Mr. Pollack appeared with Aetna Inc.'s chairman and chief executive, Ronald A. Williams, on Thursday at the National Press Club.
Mr. Williams, like many leaders in the health-insurance industry of late, has expressed support for expanding health coverage. He discussed such "cost-shifting" to health insurers as a major reason for covering more people.
"For every person who has private health insurance, there is a tax that is based on paying for the uncompensated care that these community hospitals have to collect," Mr. Williams said.
Group Tallies Families' 'Hidden Health Tax' - WSJ.com
So, one can ***** all they want, but one way or another you're paying the bill.
Who will get hurt by the GOP legislation? Well first of all, the Medicaid recipients, then the middle class insured who are already hurting from the continuous outrageous annual increases with their health care insurance premiums, will working for relatively flat wages.
Who won't get hurt? Those who barely feel the pinch of the continuous rises in health care insurance companies and of course the health care industry.
