Health-Free California
by Tony Chavira
This Los Angeles Times article today says it all:
About 1 in 4 in California lack health insurance, a UCLA study finds
Nearly 1 in 4 Californians under age 65 had no health insurance last year, according to a new report, as soaring unemployment propelled vast numbers of once-covered workers into the ranks of the uninsured.
The state's uninsured population jumped to 8.2 million in 2009, up from 6.4 million in 2007, marking the highest number over the last decade, investigators from UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research said.
People who were uninsured for part or all of 2009 accounted for 24.3% of California's population under age 65 -- a dramatic increase from 2007 driven largely by Californians who lost employer-sponsored health insurance, particularly over the last year.
Among those over age 18, nearly 1 in 3 had no insurance for all or part of 2009, the UCLA researchers found. The ranks of uninsured children also grew. The study was based on phone interviews from 2007, updated with current insurance enrollment data.
When the hell did health insurance become a luxury? It's actually possible that more people own Ipods than have health insurance in Los Angeles, and that's a sad state of affairs. What's sadder, to me anyway, is the idea of having a doctor is going away. Now you have an HMO, and deal with a lot of different doctors. But the old-timey idea of having a doctor you know and trust isn't even a reality any more, since you just have to go wherever your HMO sends you. Or else you don't have anyone because you can't afford even the most basic health maintenance.
We are a cruel society to be comfortable allowing 1/3 of our population to be exposed like this. Even crueler, to advocate against helping that 1/3rd. How can social conservatives who scream about ending abortion have no problem letting people slowly die of cancer because they can't afford health care in a "free" market? Boggles my mind.
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