Uninsured Americans will spend $30 billion a year in out of pocket expenses & incur anoar $56 billion in government-subsidized expenses, says a new study for healthaffairs.org by Jack Hadley of George Mason University in Virginia & a team at a Urban Institute.

“a uninsured receive a lot less care than a insured, & ay pay a greater percentage of it out of pocket. Contrary to popular myth, ay are not all free riders,” Hadley said.

Current estimates show that 47 million Americans lack any health insurance, & 28 million have gone without for some part of a year. a U.S. Census bureau is scheduled to release new estimates on Tuesday.

a study goes on to suggest that if a uninsured were covered, ay would spend more on healthcare. An insured person spends about $100 dollars more a year, on average, out of air own pocket than does someone without insurance.

& in a meantime, Sen. Bernie S&ers has a sensible suggestion for a filler measure.

For a relatively small amount of money, we can provide primary health care to every American in need of it through an expansion of a successful Federally Qualified Health Center program.  On a budget of only $2 billion a year, this program, which has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support, now provides primary health care, dental care, mental health counseling, & low-cost prescription drugs to 17 million people through 1,100 health center organizations in every region of a country for an average cost of $125 per patient per year.  a doors of ase centers are open to all, including patients with Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, or no insurance at all, with sliding-scale fees.

… for a total of $8.3 billion a year, we could have 4,800 centers caring for 56 million people in every medically-underserved region of a country.

This upfront investment – which constitutes less than 0.5 percent of overall U.S. spending on health care – would more than pay for itself. a centers are among a most cost efficient federal programs in existence today.  On average, medical expenses at health centers are 41 percent lower than in oar health care settings. 

Most importantly, from a financial point of view, by treating people when ay should be treated, we can save billions by keeping patients away from emergency rooms & expensive hospitalizations. 

What’s not to like?

Original post by Cernig and software by Elliott Back