Video Story
Watch VideoMillions of kids with insured parents are uninsured
Story By: Jamie Smith
Source: NBC
Published Wed Oct 22, 2008, 07:45 AM MDT
Updated Wed Oct 22, 2008, 08:37 AM MDT
The troubled economy's making a bad situation worse for people who need to see a doctor but can't afford it. New studies out Tuesday find medical bills are mounting and kids are going without care even if their parents are covered by insurance.
This month's entire issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association is devoted to the nation's health care system. One of the most telling articles is about parents who can afford health insurance for themselves but not for their kids.
An Oregon doctor who studied government data from thousands of children concludes that three million have no health insurance even though their parents do. She claims it's because for many families, adding the kids is too expensive.
"One month they were able to afford it. Then the next month the gas, the electricity, the rent went up, so they had to drop the coverage," said Dr. Jennifer DeVoe of the Oregon Health and Science University.
Or, they found that the coverage they could barely afford wasn't enough. "It's not covering their glasses, their dental work, their braces, their copays," said DeVoe.
So parents take a risk. One patient, interviewed for this study, explains: "One of my kids had the flu one time, and it was getting pretty darn bad but we kept sticking to the cool baths, you know, and the tea and stuff, and we got through that, but I was pretty scared," said one parent.
The income needed to qualify for public insurance for kids "s-chip" - differs from state to state. That leaves many families, already facing job losses and high prices in this economy also without insurance for their kids.
Florida's largest charity provider lost over 300 million dollars in 06-07 caring for the uninsured. "People out of jobs are under a great deal of stress. Their health is going to be affected," said Marvin O’Quinn of the Jackson Health System, Miami.
The Kaiser Family Foundation reports one in three Americans had problems paying medical bills in the last year. A third of those who couldn't pay were uninsured.
Many experts agree the answer is comprehensive health care reform. Both presidential candidates laid out their plans in this month's journal. Barack Obama requires insurance for all children and sets up group health coverage for people who don't have it at work, and John McCain offers a $5,000 tax credit to help pay for coverage.
