Where do liberals get their facts on health-care, they are always wrong?

Question

Anyone who pays even the slightest attention to the health-care debate in this country probably knows that there are "44 million uninsured Americans." The figure was all but shouted from the rooftops during the recent Cover the Uninsured Week. It is standard boilerplate for John Kerry's stump speeches. Hillary Clinton, in her recent screed, was unwilling to round off the number: "Some 43.6 million Americans are uninsured, and the vast majority of them are in working families."
The existence of the 44-million figure is a tribute to Benjamin Disraeli's quip that "there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." If one accepts the Current Population Survey's numbers (the source for the 44-million statistic), there are in fact closer to 35 million uninsured Americans. Over 20 percent of the uninsured in this country are not citizens.
Yet there is good reason to be skeptical of the CPS's numbers. The CPS is intended to measure the number of people who have been uninsured for an entire year. One problem with the CPS statistic is that it includes both those who are insured for a short time and those who are chronically uninsured (defined as being uninsured for at least a year). Many people go without insurance for a few months often as the result of being between jobs. The CPS statistic of 44 million does not make that distinction.
Another drawback is that CPS asks respondents to recall their insurance status over the last twelve months, increasing the probability of sampling error due to respondents' memory lapses. Last year a paper from the Congressional Budget Office contrasted the CPS with two other surveys, the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). MEPS and SIPP track their respondents every few months, so the error due to memory lapse should be minimized. Interestingly, MEPS reported 31 million chronically uninsured, while SIPP reported only 21 million.
Yet even the numbers reported by the MEPS and SIPP surveys overstate the number of uninsured. Some respondents who receive Medicaid may say they are uninsured because of the stigma associated with the Medicaid program. Studies suggest that this may result in an undercounting of the insured by 12 to 15 percent. According to the CBO, "the number of non-elderly people who are enrolled in Medicaid at any time during the year could be undercounted in population surveys by about 4 to 5 million."
Another wrinkle occurs in the definition of the uninsured. There are many people who are eligible for Medicaid but are not enrolled in the program. Some argue that they should be counted as uninsured, while others argue that they should not. The latter group seems to have the stronger case, since such people can receive Medicaid coverage retroactively for health-care expenses. At present, there is no exact data on the number of people who are eligible for Medicaid but not enrolled. The most recent study, from 1994, estimated that about 2.9 million children who were uninsured were eligible for Medicaid.
Finally, it is important to note that, according to the SIPP survey, over 18 percent of the chronically uninsured say that they have gone without insurance because either they have not needed it or do not believe in it. When the various factors are accounted for, it is possible that the true number of the chronically uninsured is 12 to15 million.
Does the actual number matter? Either way, one might object, there are still millions who lack health insurance. Actually, it matters a great deal, because those who are most likely to tout the 44-million-uninsured statistic also tend to be the advocates of wholesale reform of the health-care system, usually of the government-run variety. A larger number gives their arguments more weight.
Second, understanding the actual magnitude of the problem gives us better direction in terms of policy. Of those chronically uninsured, the vast majority are poor, but over 60 percent are under the age of 35. Thus, the uninsured may be a largely healthy population that could afford to purchase health-care in a more consumer-driven system. Indeed, many of those currently purchasing insurance with health-savings accounts were previously uninsured.
Whatever the solution, we should not let inflated statistics lead us into adopting misguided health-care policies.

Answer 1

Great information, I don't know where Liberals get their information, but as you so nicely pointed out, there lacking facts.

Answer 2

Honey, if ten people die because they were uninsured there is a problem. If dollars are spend on emergency rooms because people lacked insurance for preventive visits, there is a problem. If people miss work and kids miss school because of preventable medical conditions, there is a problem. The point is not whether we can count the uninsured, the point is that we have any people at all not receiving health care or being forced by corporate decisionmakers into jumping through multiple hoops in order to get the coverage they have paid for.

Problem with free market solutions is that the chronically or critically ill, the women of child bearing age (ask your mom about paying for maternity coverage back in the fifties and sixties) would be priced out of the system.

Seems like you are trying to turn this from a discussion of the embarrassing lack of universal coverage in the US, whether it be through socialized or single payer or private enterprise, into an argument over whose statistics are right.

I don't care if it is 4 million or 40 million, either number is appalling and a solution is most desperately needed.

Answer 3

Here's some facts for you to choke on:

The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee access to health care as a right of citizenship. 28 industrialized nations have single payer universal health care systems.

Federal studies by the Congressional Budget Office and the General Accounting office show that single payer universal health care would save 100 to 200 Billion dollars per year despite covering all the uninsured and increasing health care benefits.

The United States spends 50 to 100% more on administration than single payer systems.

There would be free choice of health care providers under a single payer universal health care system, unlike our current managed care system in which people are forced to see providers on the insurer’s panel to obtain medical benefits.

Answer 4

Once again we're treated to the 'liberal' strawman as the enemy of the people. We're also given the argument that the issue is 'health CARE'...when the issue is afforadable health INSURANCE. And last, the demon of a 'government-run' health CARE system is tossed out. As if anyone is suggesting the 'govenment' should put all the doctors in America on the federal payroll. Shazam..now let's destruct. 45 million or 35 million...it's still a lot of millions. Legal or illegal....someone still has to pay up. While a lot of illegals work 'under the table', millions get a pay check. A few bucks deducted for insurance would take the burden off you and me...how's that for a plus? Under 35 and healthy? Sure, but this is the group that has 'accidents', and that costs a bundle...without INSURANCE, who pays? Right..you and me! Add to the mix those not within the underwritiing rules of the health insurance industry and a lot of folks are out of the loop. Universal health insurance for all...it's time has come! Let's do it!

Answer 5

So your point is that the number may be less. There may be less than 44 million uninsured.

And would you like to venture a guess as to how many uninsured Canadians there are in Canada?

Zero? Did you say "zero"?

Oui. Zero.

Answer 6

I think the real point is why should there be even 1 uninsured child or adult in this country?

Answer 7

And those most likely to not believe the statistics would be who?

Answer 8

They stop listening after they hear 44 million...anything beyond that just doesn't matter to them. They do not need to check facts because they are happy calling preliminary information "fact".

Answer 9

And you are always right...way right.

Answer 10

i smell a republican.