Health insurance

THE ISSUE

A study of deaths in Alabama related to lack of healthcare insurance found that up to 12 people a week die from lack of proper care.

The statistics are sobering from a study released this week on deaths in Alabama among those without healthcare insurance. Families USA, a Washington, D.C. advocacy group, said nearly 12 Alabamians between the ages of 25 and 64 die each week because they don't have health insurance. That amounted to about 600 deaths in 2006, according to the study.

The study, "Dying for Coverage," also found that one in five of the state's 2.3 million working age residents were uninsured in 2006. The study used national data from the Institute of Medicine and The Urban Institute to compile state-by-state results, according to the Associated Press.

When one in five working-age people are without healthcare insurance, it can only be described as a crisis of unsettling proportions. Unnecessary deaths and untreated illnesses weaken not only the quality of life of Alabama families but costs health-care providers - and ultimately taxpayers - millions of dollars.

The American way of approaching health care is no longer working.

In Alabama, being poor is a tough proposition. The state's Medicaid program is perpetually and woefully underfunded. Next year's general fund budget, which pays for non-education expenses, is expected to be millions of dollars short of revenue projections. Among the agencies certain to lose financial ground is the Medicaid program. The state has been unable because of its hopelessly archaic tax system to generate enough money to meet federal matching funds at a level to reach those who need care. Ron Gilbert, policy director for Alabama Arise, an advocacy group for the poor, said anyone with an income of $5,000 or more is not eligible for Medicare. With an income threshold as low as that, health care for many Alabamians is, at best, medieval.

The healthcare experiences of Alabama's poor is happening across the country; it's not confined just to this state or to predominantly rural areas. Even those who are not considered among the working poor are finding themselves with inadequate insurance or no insurance at all as fewer employers offer comprehensive care plans.

Affordable health care for all Americans should be one of the two or three primary issues of this presidential election. It affects every man, woman and child in this country, and has a direct effect on the nation's economy.