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8 June/July 2006 Breast Cancer Action
… Universal Access to Care
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Access to Care: The Numbers
grow up without vaccinations, medical
treatment when they are sick, and regular
checkups to assess their health, future
generations will pay the cost.
How Does the U.S. Stack Up Against
Other Countries?
A Commonwealth Fund study on health
systems around the world found that the
United States spends more on health care
than any other industrialized country and
spends the highest proportion of its Gross
Domestic Product on health care. 7 Health
insurance premiums have been increasing for
years, much faster than inflation and wage
increases during the past four years. Despite
all we spend on health care, the United States
has the seventh-highest infant mortality rate
of the 30 most industrialized countries and
ranks 37th in a World Health Organization
assessment of health systems.
The United States is the only wealthy,
industrialized nation that does not have
universal health care coverage. And many
other countries fare better than us on health
outcomes. What are we doing wrong here?
Dr. Alberto Manetta, a professor at the
College of Medicine at the University of
California at Irvine, makes an interesting
analogy to the U.S. auto industry in the
1960s. Power and speed became top design
concerns of U.S. automakers, and many
thought our auto industry was the best in the
world at the time. But U.S. design efforts in
efficiency and economy lagged far behind
other countries, and as a result, we are now
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7 million Californians are uninsured. Millions more are underinsured.
In 2004, 20 percent of California’s uninsured worked for large employers with at least
500 workers.
Latinos are more likely to be uninsured than other ethnic groups, and about 2.5 times
as likely as whites.
◆ In 2001, people with cancer in the U.S. had average medical debts of $35,878.
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In a nationwide study, nearly two-fifths of adults who lacked health insurance for a
year or more reported not being able to see a physician when needed in the past
year due to cost, and nearly 70 percent of those in fair or poor health reported such
barriers. These barriers were greatest for women, blacks, the unemployed, and those
with low incomes.
A study by researchers at Harvard Medical School found that health care
bureaucracy cost the United States $399.4 billion in 2003.
The World Health Organization ranked the U.S. health care system 55th for fairness.
References:
Health Care for All—California. Health Care Crisis. www.health careforall.org/healthcare_crisis.html
California Health Care Foundation (2005). Snapshot: California’s Uninsured.
Consumeraffairs.com (2005). Medical Bills Leading Cause of Bankruptcy, Harvard Study Finds.
Retrieved June 15, 2006 from http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/bankruptcy_study.html.
John Z. Ayanian, et al., “Unmet Health Needs of Uninsured Adults in the United States," JAMA 2000;
playing catch-up. When the oil shortage of
the 1970s hit, and gas prices soared, many
could no longer afford to drive cars with poor
gas mileage. This is even truer today than it
was in the 1970s.
Similarly, many in the United States
currently think ours is the best health care
system in the world. Yet we spend more and
often get less. We are not necessarily seeing
more or better services. A false sense that we
Deficit Reduction Act Threatens Access to Medicaid
At press time, BCA received word that, as of July 1, 2006, any U.S. citizens seeking
Medicaid services will be required to provide proof of citizenship, under the so-called
Deficit Reduction Act. Current enrollees will also have to provide documentation when
they renew their eligibility—which happens yearly. The primary documents accepted to
prove citizenship under this law are a passport, a birth certificate, or a certificate of
naturalization. These requirements do not apply to noncitizens in those states that
provide Medicaid coverage. BCA is strongly opposed to this measure, which was signed
into law at the federal level in February 2006. The law will create additional hurdles to
obtaining health services and care for low-income people and seniors around the
country. The law affects not just new Medicaid applicants, but also the 51 million current
enrollees, who may need to renew their eligibility within the next year. BCA will report on
this issue in more detail in a future issue of the BCA Newsletter. For more information on
the topic, visit www.familiesusa.org.
have the best system should not keep us from
being innovative and designing an improved
health care system that serves all of us. All the
other nations with universal health care can
serve as a model for creating the very best
universal health care system right here in the
United States.
Finding a Solution: Access for All
Breast Cancer Action is supporting SB 840,
the California Health Insurance Reliability Act
(CHIRA), authored by state Senator Sheila
Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). This bill would
provide fiscally sound, affordable health
insurance coverage to all Californians, provide
every California resident the right to choose
their own physician, and help control
increasing health-cost inflation.
The plan would involve no new
government spending on health care. The
health care system created would be paid for
by federal, state, and county monies already
being spent on health care, and by affordable
premiums to the state that replace premiums to
insurance companies, deductibles, out-ofpocket
payments, and co-pays now paid by
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