Study: More Americans have health insurance
By Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times
Federal researchers reported on Tuesday that the number of Americans without health insurance had declined substantially in the first quarter of this year, the first federal measure of the number of uninsured Americans since the Affordable Care Act extended coverage to millions of people in January.
The number of uninsured Americans fell by about 8 percent to 41 million people in the first quarter of this year, compared with 2013, a drop that represented about 3.8 million people and that roughly matched what experts were expecting based on polling by private groups, like Gallup. The survey also measured physical health but found little evidence of change.
The findings were part of the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative examination that is considered a gold standard by researchers. It interviewed about 27,000 people in the first quarter, fewer than Gallup, which interviewed 45,000 people in the second quarter alone. But researchers say it is considered particularly trustworthy because federal interviewers conduct the survey in Americans’ homes. It also sets a federal level that others can use as a benchmark.
Yep. Threaten people with fines for NOT having insurance, they’re more likely to buy it. So what?
They should be fined. If they don’t have insurance then those of us with insurance subsidize them. The should pay far more than the current fines…far far more.
The other choice is they sign a pact never to accept emergency medical care, and if that is done, then paramedics leave them in the streets to die if they get sick or in an accident.
Which do you choose?
Let’s just let people those without insurance die(ya’ll just make sure to do it quietly so you don’t wake Jesus).
‘ If they don’t have insurance then those of us with insurance subsidize them.’
Exactly.
And good luck getting her to acknowledge that we have the least efficient healthcare system in the world.
We beat Serbia and Brazil!!!!!!!
http://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2013/08/28/bloomberg-ranks-the-worlds-most-efficient-health-care-systems
Well, its just a guess but the whiners who dont want to be forced to have to buy health insurance are probably the same people that have no trouble affording cigarettes. Just a guess…
I stand corrected. 3rd least efficient.
Gofigure: I’ve always purchased my own medical insurance. It’s the prudent thing to do. And it’s always been expensive, since it’s an individual policy. But my premium has increased by 70% since obamacare started being introduced, a little at a time. Most people don’t realize it has been introduced in increments over the past 4 years. Only those who actually purchase their own insurance would be aware of it. So, my husband and I now pay $17K for a 70/30 plan with a $4600 deductible. Before Obamacare we paid less than $10K for the same plan. We haven’t yet been notified about how much of an increase there will be for 2015. But there WILL be one. Substantial, from what the news indicates.
We don’t smoke.
And in case you’re wondering, NO we don’t make a lot of money. That’s more than 1/3 of our total PRE-TAX income.
And that is one of the reasons I am so incredibly ticked off at what mr. obama has done to this country.
Well dog, I guess your story is your story. I have had private insurance too until 3 years ago. Until then for the last 10 years my family premium seemed to double every year and sometimes every 6 months. I know many people who could never get insurance because of pre existing issues, or they were smokers. The last 5 family members to die in my extended family died from cigarettes. The costs to treat and extend their lives was astronomical and im sure that has been passed onto me indirectly. Name one insurance company that hasnt benefited with record returns to their shareholders by charging increasingly huge increases to people like you and me. It isnt Obamas fault but, hey, you get off on finger pointing so whatever floats your boat.
im all for socialized medicine. I know several people that live in countries who provide their citizens with health care and ive heard no complaints. But than again I dont listen to the foxnoise fear mongers either. As I recall, the original plan for the affordable health care act came from mr. Romney. But im sure his plan was ok because it was his plan. You can choose to be angry and hateful or you can choose to leave America. I choose to live a healthy life and am just grateful that my husbands employer provides health insurance for their staff.
When I was in Canada I heard plenty of complaints. But then, I was listening.
Selectively, I’m sure.
Socialized medicine is never okay, regardless of which side imposes it on (supposedly) free people. Your suggestion that, because Romney did it first, we would consider it acceptable is a ridiculous assumption.
Not sure how you can say this current fiasco isn’t obama’s fault. He crowed about accomplishing it. He certainly took the credit, and he damn well ought to take responsibility for its damage as well.
From a 2009 Harris poll: By an overwhelming margin, Canadians prefer the Canadian health care system to the American one. Overall, 82% said they preferred the Canadian system, fully ten times the number who said the American system is superior (8%)
Oh and I lived under socialized medicine for several years….LOVED IT. Got great care and was even covered under reciprocal agreements when I traveled in Europe to other countries with socialized medicine. Had to go to the emergency room in Sweden and (this was the 70s) is cost me a total of $.05 to pay the lady who typed my name on the prescription label.
So dog, your postulating that its obamas fault because he was enthusiastic about some of the good results, excluding you of course. I guess I can then postulate that when gw bush exclaimed “mission accomplished” regarding his going after the bad guys after 9/11, well we all know how that turned out…dog logic…
Hey dawg, the 46 health care systems that are better than ours are all ‘socialized’. They are all better.
Listen to all the whining Canadians you want. The numbers tell the whole story.
Highest expense par capita and per GDP, and the results aren’t even mediocre.
All three parts of that statement are true. Try to refute them.
And you want us to do more of what makes us the worst.
go figure your statement about your insurance doubling every year and sometimes every 6 months, is impossible as health insurance has never doubled every year. It would never gotten thru the DOI approval process in. I wonder if many people on Medicare give the same approval rating as the Canadians. If you people believe that the people that will be getting fined will purchase some so they wont get fined you have been smoking something. It is way cheaper for someone young(the age group that is likely to go uninsured) to pay the fine rather than to purchase insurance. Yes, they all like to quote how many less uninsured there are, but I haven’t seen the actuary tables that will tell us how many healthy(as opposed to the healthy ones) signed up to make the scheme one that can sustain itself. If not enough sign up then it will collapse with exploding increases for the Federal government and the premium paying public.
Isn’t using insurance by definition “socialism?”
Relo. Nobody wants to go backwards with health insurance to days when the Mob aka insurance companies where running the show. We had quasi universal coverage known as The Emergency Room, but using the Emergency Room of a Hospital is way to high and is not health care.
In the bad ‘ol days, health insurance industry premium rates could double and triple depending on illness, pre-existing conditions, accidents, number of family members, new family members that did not have perfect health, moving to a different location etc.
From 2000 to 2009 (before ACA) premium rates nationwide were up about 106%; with no changes to coverage, family members or pre-existing conditional changes. That is a raw average of 10.6% per year; some areas saw 15% rate increases.
Over my lifetime I have been cancelled twice from two different insurance companies and have seen first hand the insurance industries letters saying we won’t cover you for this anymore unless you want to pay us more.
Thank goodness that is a thing of the past.
Switzerland is quickly learning that when illegals start tapping into their small country’s socialized medicine and other benefits without contributing that the 65% they are all contributing willl not sustain them for long.
Pine. Switzerland is in the EU and the EU is suffering from austerity measures NOT “illegals.”