46,000,000

With the debate over economic stimulus behind us, the next frontier in remaking America into a European-type socialist society will be healthcare. And more than anything else, a number you'll be hearing a lot about is 46, 000,000. As in "Forty-six million Americans lack health care." Or, "Forty-six million Americans can't afford healthcare." And, "Our healthcare system is in crisis when 46 million Americans can't afford health insurance." Don't believe it.



Now, I'm the first to admit that our system of healthcare is in need of radical surgery. And I think this nation needs a good, healthy debate on the best way to cure this patient. But the best way isn't by pointing to a statistic that's more fact than fiction. The best way to fix the problem is not to accept as Gospel truth an outright distortion. So here's the real scoop:

• The 46 million number was supposedly generated from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, which tracks demographic information on healthcare. In its annual report, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States the Bureau claims that health insurance converage is likely to be underreported in the U.S. So the government agency that initiated the statistic that has become a rallying cry for Euro health care believes that the number of uninsured is smaller than what it reported.


• Second, most people assume that that 46 million is made of up Americans who are chronically uninsured. The fact is that like all surveys the CPS was a snapshot frozen in time. Many of those counted in the 46 million number were transitionally uninsured. For example, they may have just lost a job, graduated from school without having found work yet, or were between policies. So the chronic problem--the number of people uninsured over a long period of time--is probably a lot smaller.


• Third, even if you accept the 46 million number, you owe it to yourself to examine it closely. If you do, you'll find that 18 million of the 46 million make more than $50,000 per year! 40% of the uninsured earn more than the median income in the United States. So far from the picture of Dust Bowl Okies painted by Euro health proponents, 40% of the uninsured are uninsured by choice. Maybe they'd rather spend their money on lux car leases rather than premiums. Maybe a kick-ass sound system is more important to them than annual checkups. I don't know, and I don't care. Not my problem. My problem is being forced to pay for their healthcare while I drive cars that are 11 and 12 years old. Statistically, twenty-somethings make up the fastest growing segment of this population. Insurers call them the "invincibles" because they think they'll live forever (C'mon, didn't you think that when you were 25?) Oh, and by the way--more than half of that 18 million uninsured-by-choice population makes more than $75,00o per year.


• Fourth, of that 46 million uninsureds, about 10 million are non-citizens. In all probability they wouldn't be covered by Euro health anyway.


• Fifth, about 14 million of the 46 million are already eligible for government-sponsored healthcare, like Medicaid, Medicare or SCHIP (the federally funded, state-run insurance plan for working class kids). For whatever reason, they've chosen not to enroll in these healthcare programs. Yet we're being told that we need to adopt Euro health to reach people who for whatever reason have chosen not to take advantage of current government insurance programs.

So who's left? If you do the math, we're left with about four to eight million chronically uninsured people. These are largely the working and underemployed poor. And we have a moral obligation to them as Americans to fix the problem. That's where our responsibility starts and ends. But four million doesn't sound as catastrophic as 46 million, so the administration and the leftist-controlled Congress will chant the mantra of 46 million until they achieve their goal of Euro health. And if it works as well as Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP those eight million people will continue to fall through the government's insurance cracks. We'll have radicalized this country without having any effect on the problem. Don't fall for it.


Just thought you might like to know.