NY Times: Even the Insured Feel Strain of Health Costs

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By REED ABELSON and MILT FREUDENHEIM
Published: May 4, 2008



The economic slowdown has swelled the ranks of people without health insurance. But now it is also threatening millions of people who have insurance but find that the coverage is too limited or that they cannot afford their own share of medical costs.

Many of the 158 million people covered by employer health insurance are struggling to meet medical expenses that are much higher than they used to be — often because of some combination of higher premiums, less extensive coverage, and bigger out-of-pocket deductibles and co-payments.

With medical costs soaring, the coverage many people have may not adequately protect them from the financial shock of an emergency room visit or a major surgery. For some, even routine doctor visits might now take a back seat to basic expenses like food and gasoline.

“It just keeps eating into people’s income,” said James Corbin, a former union official who works for the local utility in Tucson.

Mr. Corbin said that under their employer’s health plan, he and his co-workers are now obliged to pay up to $4,000 of their families’ annual medical bills, on top of about $1,600 a year in premiums. Five years ago, they paid no premiums and were responsible for only about $2,000 of their families’ medical bills.

“That’s a big jump,” Mr. Corbin said. “You’ve just lost a month’s pay.”

Already, many doctors say, the soft economy is making some insured people hesitant to get care they need, reluctant to spend a $50 co-payment for an office visit. Parents “are waiting longer to bring in their children,” said Dr. Richard Lander, a pediatrician in Livingston, N.J. “They say, ‘The kid isn’t that sick; her temperature is only 102.’ ”

The problem of affording health care is most acute for people with no insurance, a group expected to soon exceed 48 million, but those with insurance say they too are feeling the pain. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/business/04insure.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[elocs]

1. Already a thread about this from early this morning here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3295849

[OffWithTheirHeads]

2. Yep! As a Union sheet metal worker, I have some of the best

insurance avaialable, but a stay in the hospital around X-mass is breaking me with just the co-pays and deductables. I really don't know how I am going to pay these bills. When I was sick, I didn't get paid for not working so we just got behinder in our debts. Now that I am back to work, we are just trying to catch up on the bills we couldn't pay when I was out of work and we are now getting slammed with the bills the insurance didn't pay. I swear to God, the game seems to be to keep you forever subserviant.

[marmar]

3. "I swear to God, the game seems to be to keep you forever subserviant."

Yup. "The American Dream" is a zero-sum Ponzi scheme, sadly.

[marmar]

4. Early A.M. E.D.T. Kick!

:kick: