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Jobless Americans Face Health Care Crisis

Posted on: Monday, 3 November 2008, 13:40 CST

As job losses continue among Americans during a slumping economy, more and more people are sure to face a health care crisis.

"There are not adequate options," said Cheryl Fish-Parcham, deputy director of health policy at the nonprofit Families USA, which advocates health care reform. "People may face prices that are totally unaffordable, and they often can't get the same benefits they had before."

Take for instance Leah Smith of Indiana. The 55-year-old pays more than $370 per month on health insurance. However, she considers herself to be one of the lucky ones.

Among the jobless, Smith is one of the lucky few with solid health insurance that she can afford. And it covers thousands of dollars in prescription drugs she could never pay for herself.

She's covered under the Indiana Comprehensive Health Insurance Association, a state-backed safety net program, and pays $2,198 every three months. That’s about what the average worker pays over three years for her portion of a single-coverage plan through an employer, according to statistics from the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.

Under the COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) coverage plan, Smith was able to paying about $400 a month for 18 months of the same coverage she enjoyed when she was an employee. Many unemployed people can't afford that, but Smith said disability insurance gave her a portion of her former salary to help cover it.

Once COBRA coverage ended, she searched for an individual policy and found it wasn't easy.

"I even wrote letters asking them to please cover me," she said. "They had no interest as soon as they learned of all the (health) issues."

She ultimately found Indiana’s partially state-funded program, which charges relatively high premiums but provides its estimated 1,200 customers insurance with no lifetime maximum on benefits.

The program rejects no one and, like similar ones in 20 to 30 states, it provides coverage for people who can't afford it on the open market but are too well off to qualify for Medicaid.

Smith has had to dramatically cutback on her expenses in order to pay for the expensive plan.

In return, her insurance covers most of the expense of her nausea medicine, which costs about $1,600 for 120 pills. It also covers a patch she needs for nerve pain, a blood thinner, blood pressure drug and other medicines.

The first and best option for people who lose their employers' insurance is switching to coverage through a spouse or family member. Then there's COBRA, but the cost of extending this employer's insurance, however, usually rises about fivefold once you leave the payroll.

"You would go from paying 20 percent to paying all of it," said Karen Pollitz, a research professor at the Georgetown Health Policy Institute. She said the cost of a COBRA policy quickly becomes a "conversation stopper" for those who have just lost their income.

Insurers offer scores of individual plans for a wide range of prices. But these polices may not work if the applicant has a pre-existing condition. That can lead to insurance that costs too much or excludes expensive conditions like diabetes.

For Jeffrey Carroll, there were no affordable options when he lost his job as a truck driver. At $1,000 a month, COBRA proved too pricey for the 44-year-old with a wife and daughter. He also found nothing but big fees when he searched online. He said some polices wanted as much as $241 a week.

"They need to come up with an affordable plan for a common working man," said Carroll, who has since found another job and is waiting for health coverage to start. "Joe Blow off the street can't afford it."

Smith is leaning toward John McCain on Tuesday. She isn't eager to see a government-run health plan. She envisions long waits and limited choices of doctors.

Most importantly, she's worried she'll lose the security it took her a year and a half to find.

"I'm very nervous about that," she said. "I would hate for them to come and replace the health coverage I have."

Meanwhile, Kimberly King has managed to get by more than five years without health insurance. She left her job as an accounting clerk in 2001 to take care of her sick mother, who died the next year. King, 46, dipped into her retirement savings to stretch COBRA coverage into 2002.

"I took bits and pieces of little jobs, and it's a joke," she said. "I can't even buy gas on $7 an hour."

Being without coverage worked for King until she became dizzy and passed out about a year and a half ago.

An ambulance rushed her to Wishard Memorial, the public hospital serving Indianapolis. Doctors treated her for a urinary tract infection. The ambulance ride alone cost $400.

"I still haven't paid the bill yet," King said. "I'm probably going to be out a thousand bucks."

She thinks people like her might be helped if Barack Obama wins on Tuesday. She normally votes in every election, but this year offers extra incentive.

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On the Net:

• Families USA
• Indiana Comprehensive Health Insurance Association
• Kaiser Family Foundation
• Georgetown Health Policy Institute

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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