As More Americans Are Laid-off, More Lose Medical Coverage

    Whether or not President Obama ultimately decides to nominate Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to head the Department of Health and Human Services, one thing is clear: the new administrations intends to pursue the reform of our health care system with the vigor and energy that the President and his supporters promised the public during the election campaign.

    Those who want to see change happen, may not have to wait much longer: according to press reports, we can expect Mr. Obama to tackle the topic of covering the uninsured in his prime-time address to Congress this coming Tuesday.

    This action couldn't be more timely. With the number of uninsured Americans expected to rise to as much as 57 million at the end of 2009, up from a high of 47 million last year, the Obama administration simply must tackle this issue head-on, lest it derail all hope of economic recovery, both for the country, and for the millions of families facing bankruptcy due to unexpected (and unpaid) medical bills.

    Of course, as with every issue of this magnitude that is discussed openly in the political arena, there is an elephant in the room that no one wants to bring up first.

    This may seem obvious, but it bears repeating: as people lose jobs, they, and very often their entire families, lose health insurance coverage. Sure, there is COBRA, but those who point to COBRA coverage as the savior of the newly-unemployed conveniently ignore one startling fact: the bridge coverage that COBRA provides often costs recipients as much as 90% of the unemployment benefits they are entitled to collect.

    When the Sisyphean choice is housing or health insurance, or even food or health insurance, the more pressing needs almost always win out. Yes, some people manage to get on Medicaid when employer-sponsored group coverage disappears, but the number of those who qualify is small as compared to the total number of Americans who are losing their jobs (tens of thousands every day, it seems).

    Lawmakers will ignore the growing number of uninsured at their peril. With every new family kicked off the traditional, employer-sponsored insurance rolls, the health care system must somehow absorb individuals who still need care, but are no longer able to pay for it. This puts additional strain especially on public hospitals, clinics, and emergency rooms, institutions that can already be described as "always reeling" from budget cuts by state and local governments.

    No one knows for sure if the already-strained-to-the-maximum health care system can absorb ten additional uninsured this year. The fact is, it probably cannot. This is more reason why Congress, even as it licks its wounds from a short but violent stimulus bill fight, must tackle head-on the issue of reforming the way we pay for health care, lest we all pay for inaction tenfold later on.



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