[Justin]

http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml

"Universal Basic Coverage" is not necessarily the best tests, the best drugs, and the best programs. It is a safety net so that people can get the average tests, drugs, and programs. Most importantly tests, drugs, and programs covered by the right level of care.

Just because there is no official program to cover the uninsured right now does not mean the insured population does not pay for the uninsured population, as Terry pointed out. The uninsured inherently drive up health care costs. People who don't have insurance still need health care, so they get it by going to ERs and not paying the bill, or only paying part of the bill. The ER costs exponentially more than does a regular primary care physician's office, and by the time someone goes into the ER for a problem, they need much more tests and drugs and care than they would have had they sought care earlier.

Americans without health insurance will spend $30 billion out of pocket on medical care this year, according to a new report by George Mason University and the Urban Institute.

The government will pay about 75% of an additional $56 billion in health costs - or $42 billion - for the uninsured. The rest is covered by private physicians, community groups and hospitals.

So uninsured spend about $30 billion a year out of pocket, but $56 billion either comes from your tax dollars (the government), you (assuming you'll be a physician), or the hospitals where you receive health care. None of those groups can afford to foot the bill--especially not hospitals. So what do they do to cover it? They charge more for services. Higher health care costs translates into higher premiums for employers. Higher premiums for employers means employers cant afford to cover as much. So they have to do one of a few things:

1. Raise premiums or out of pocket costs for employees
2. Get a cheaper insurance plan that covers fewer things
3. Drop coverage.

And all of these things are happening according to the National Coalition on Health Care

Premiums for employer-based health insurance rose by 6.1 percent in 2007. Small employers saw their premiums, on average, increase 5.5 percent. Firms with less than 24 workers, experienced an increase of 6.8 percent.2

The annual premium that a health insurer charges an employer for a health plan covering a family of four averaged $12,100 in 2007. Workers contributed nearly $3,300, or 10 percent more than they did in 2006.2 The annual premiums for family coverage significantly eclipsed the gross earnings for a full-time, minimum-wage worker ($10,712).

# National surveys show that the primary reason people are uninsured is the high cost of health insurance coverage.2
# Economists have found that rising health care costs correlate to drops in health insurance coverage.8

Now, as more and more people become un and under-insured, more and more people are showing up to the ER for problems that a PCP could handle, and fewer and fewer people are paying their bills in full. This costs hospitals more, which costs health insurance providers more, which costs employers more, which leads to fewer benefits and fewer people being insured. This cycle eats away at the insured population and fuels the growing cost of health care. Of course there are other reasons why health care costs so much, but this is a big one.

$56 billion dollars is nothing to sneeze at.

Even though the Obama plan will cost $50-65 billion a year once fully implemented, we're already paying that just for having such a large uninsured population and that number is set to rise in the coming years. So why not implement a plan that will stop this cycle using the same amount of money we're spending currently? We may even save money if it makes our population healthier and therefore in less need of heroic health care efforts.

Of course, just my $.02