Health Management

Perhaps just a nation of "whiners"?

(Sourced from DallasNews.com)

John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis (a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank), and an adviser who helped craft John McCain's health care policy said:

"The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care. So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

Mr. Goodman bases this on the fact that anyone can walk into an emergency room and get care.

"So instead of producing worthless statistics that people fling around in vacuous editorials and pointless debates, the Census Bureau should produce meaningful numbers, identifying all of the sources of funds people will draw on if they need medical care," he said.

In his own state of Texas 24.8 percent of residents were uninsured in 2006 and 2007. That's up from 23.9 percent for 2004 and 2005. It leads the nation with the highest percentage of residents without health insurance, a U.S. Census Bureau report showed Tuesday.

California still has the highest number – not percentage – of uninsured residents at 6.7 million, compared with 5.7 million Texans. The Texas number is up from 5.5 million in 2006.

Needless to say, Mr. Goodman's analysis drew sharp criticism.

The Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin-based think tank focusing on poverty issues spoke out. "That is not the same thing as having health insurance," said Eva Deluna, a budget analyst for the center. "People without insurance are less likely to seek care, and when they do, the cost to the health system is greater," she said.

Ms. Deluna argued that the situation actually is worse now than the Census Bureau reported. The just-released data does not reflect the recent economic downturn, she said.

It makes no sense, she continued, for Texas to have the nation's highest percentage of uninsured residents, while having one of the nation's strongest economies for job growth.

In luring jobs to Texas, state and local officials have simply focused on the number of jobs, rather than on quality jobs offering health insurance, Ms Deluna said.

"People are working harder than ever, but the jobs they have don't provide health insurance," she said.

The number of Texans receiving health insurance through their jobs dropped to 11.9 million last year, from 12.1 million the year before, according to the Census Bureau.

Nationally, the overall number without insurance fell to 45.7 million last year, from 47 million in 2006.

For more, read HERE.