Affordable Health Insurance

The title of CBS News’ article is “How to Save Billions on Health Care Now.” And while the points made in the article are good ones, it doesn’t address the very real fact that the lack of affordable individual health insurance is costing us a great deal more than unnecessary surgeries.

It makes sense that, as it says in the article, 30% to 40% of elective procedures are unnecessary, often performed at the bequest of those individuals who are hoping to extend their lives.

However, out of the $2.5 trillion a year that we pay in health care costs each year, billions of it could be reduced by simply making individual health insurance more affordable.

How so? Since 1986 it has been illegal for hospitals to refuse treatment to the uninsured. However, in order to offset the costs of treating them, hospitals routinely overcharge for medical procedures performed on those who do have health coverage.

And those costs are passed on through the premiums paid for group health insurance and individual health insurance. If you have either of these, you are already helping to subsidize the health care of the uninsured.

However, as most economists agree, if individual health insurance were both affordable and legally required, the costs accrued by treating the uninsured would decrease dramatically, saving us all billions a year.

Now, if we could only combine low-cost and yet effective health coverage with a reduction in unnecessary treatments, we might actually save $2.5 trillion a year, and be healthier for it too.

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