LEFT
OUT
their conditions worsen to the
point that they can no longer work,
removing their payroll and income
taxes from government coffers
while drawing on taxpayers for
disability benefits. People in that
situation effectively increase the
costs of health care for everyone,
say experts, because they eventually require emergency services, with
the bill often picked up by state
and federal taxpayers.
In 2010, hospitals nationwide
delivered $39.3 billion in health
care services for which they received no payment, according to
the American Hospital Association,
citing the last year for which data
is available. Some of these costs
are covered by taxpayer-funded
programs that reimburse hospitals
that have especially high rates of
unpaid bills. The rest gets absorbed
by the health care system, yielding
higher prices for patients.
The result: an American medical
system characterized by extreme
inefficiency.
“We have a health care system
that has the best medical science
in the world that delivers thirdworld health care to the vast majority of our population,” Lumpkin
said. “Our nation spends more per
capita for health care, by far, than
HUFFINGTON
02.03.13
any of the other developed countries in the world. And when you
compare outcomes based on any
measurement of health or health
care, we underperform.”
Laura Johnson’s son, Dustin, a
20-year-old college student, suffers from severe asthma and himself lacks health care, frequently
landing in the emergency room.
He offers his own sense of the accounting at work: In his view, people like him and his mother have
simply been pushed beyond the
ledgers of American life.
“Some of the people who can
afford health insurance just kind
of forget about people who can’t,”
he said. “I don’t think health care
is something anyone should be
denied. It’s not anyone’s choice to
get sick.”
OUT OF THE WOODWORK
Dianne Laird, 57, has experienced
both sides of that divide.
Four years ago, as the American economy sank into the worst
downturn since the Great Depression, she lost her job as an office
manager in Texas. She lost her
$42,000 annual salary along with
her health coverage. At about the
same time, her husband, Ron, 58,
shuttered his kayak rental company
in the face of declining business.
The Lairds found themselves
part of a crowded group that no