American workers - whose taxes pay for massive government health programs - are getting squeezed like no other group by private health insurance premiums that are rising much faster than their wages.
While just about all retirees are covered, and nearly 90 percent of children have health insurance, workers now are at significantly higher risk of being uninsured than in the 1990s, the last time lawmakers attempted a healthcare overhaul, according to a study to be released today.
The study for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that nearly 1 in 5 workers is uninsured, a statistically significant increase from fewer than 1 in 7 during the mid-1990s.
The problem is cost. Total premiums for employer plans have risen six to eight times faster than wages, depending on whether individual or family coverage is chose, the study found.
"The thing I think is interesting is how many workers are newly uninsured," said Lynn Blewett, director of the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota, which conducted the research.
"In the last couple of years we've seen a deterioration of private health insurance."
About 20.7 million workers were uninsured in the mid-1990s.
A decade later, it was 26.9 million, an increase of about 6 million, the study found.
cool story bro
Robert Wood Johnson
Whenever the goverment puts its fingers into anything, it becomes fucked up- the healthcare programs are the reason why all medical treatments are more expensive, so health insurance have to raise. None of insurance company runs to serve people with charity.
But that's not really THAT scary. People in my country are average taxed up to 83% and the progressive income tax is not the only reason why this value is so high. What is even more scary, the last elections shows, that only ~5% of population is really aware of this fact. In return we get crap health insurance that will prolly not save us if we have fatal disease, the army of clerks that will do everything incuding breaking the law to kill our business, crap education system that turns good students into walking encyclopedia instead of good future workers, almost no highways and mandatory pension scheme that will prolly not be able to pay back the collected money back as my generation will reach the proper age to go on retirement.
I really don't care about people who can't afford insurance in US, the country where 10$/h is considered as low wage. Hell, I used to work for 2$/h, which is common wage in my country for not complicated jobs, like PC serviceman, shop worker or MC Donalds's employee. Before you start complaining about "scary things", just look around you.