Tuesday, September 21, 2004
The importance of understanding a problem before trying to solve it
[Alice Thomas, "Not all the uninsured fret about it," The Columbus Dispatch, 21 September 2004.]
Some organizations are using the "45 million uninsured" number as a rallying cry for government intervention to solve a health care "crisis." Others, though, are working to figure out what is really behind that number.
More and more signs point to a subset of the population that simply is not interested in obtaining insurance. For those who indicate that insurance is just out of their price range, tax credits, health savings accounts, or bare-bones policies may be the answer. For others, there may be no policy change that will make insurance an attractive buy:
No one knows how many people are happily uninsured, but an estimated 10 million have incomes exceeding $50,000, meaning money is likely not a factor in purchasing coverage, according to America’s Health Insurance Plans, an association of companies that collectively insure 200 million Americans.
That 10 million doesn’t include another segment of the population referred to as "the invincibles" — 5 million 20-somethings who don’t think they need health insurance, said Mohit Ghose, a spokesman for the association.
Some are health nuts who are vegetarian and do yoga. Others eat meat and anything else they want. Many are self-employed. Some say they’d have insurance if it were affordable; others just plain don’t want it.
All say they don’t fit into the system and have quit worrying about it.
[Matthew Hisrich, "State Mandates reduce insurance affordability," The Flint Hills Center, May 2004.
Matthew Hisrich, "Greatest increase in uninsured found among wealthy," The Flint Hills Center, 10 May 2004.]
[Alice Thomas, "Not all the uninsured fret about it," The Columbus Dispatch, 21 September 2004.]
Some organizations are using the "45 million uninsured" number as a rallying cry for government intervention to solve a health care "crisis." Others, though, are working to figure out what is really behind that number.
More and more signs point to a subset of the population that simply is not interested in obtaining insurance. For those who indicate that insurance is just out of their price range, tax credits, health savings accounts, or bare-bones policies may be the answer. For others, there may be no policy change that will make insurance an attractive buy:
No one knows how many people are happily uninsured, but an estimated 10 million have incomes exceeding $50,000, meaning money is likely not a factor in purchasing coverage, according to America’s Health Insurance Plans, an association of companies that collectively insure 200 million Americans.
That 10 million doesn’t include another segment of the population referred to as "the invincibles" — 5 million 20-somethings who don’t think they need health insurance, said Mohit Ghose, a spokesman for the association.
Some are health nuts who are vegetarian and do yoga. Others eat meat and anything else they want. Many are self-employed. Some say they’d have insurance if it were affordable; others just plain don’t want it.
All say they don’t fit into the system and have quit worrying about it.
[Matthew Hisrich, "State Mandates reduce insurance affordability," The Flint Hills Center, May 2004.
Matthew Hisrich, "Greatest increase in uninsured found among wealthy," The Flint Hills Center, 10 May 2004.]
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