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In Sickness and In Debt
In Sickness and In Debt
January 1, 2006
A Review of Medical Debt in Upstate New York
Most Americans believe that our health care system is broken. Health care costs are escalating relentlessly, and a growing number of people find themselves without the means to pay for the health care their families need. Funding for public health insurance programs consumes an ever-growing portion of federal and state budgets, which has led to vociferous debate about how best to reform our health care system.
Many of the current reform proposals are driven by the expectation that the system’s current failings can be solved with economic, free market responses. The Bush Administration maintains that a significant number of Americans currently decline or minimize their insurance coverage by choice, and consequently make prudent, cost-based decisions about the health care they ultimately use.
Does reasoning based on free market ideology hold up when applied to low-income Americans? Are families that struggle to make rent payments and put food on the table going without health insurance by choice? Are uninsured and underinsured households on limited budgets making prudent economic decisions about using health care services when confronted with serious illness or injury? This report focuses on these issues through targeted surveys and interviews with low-income individuals living in the most populous communities of upstate New York: Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany.
We use Medical Debt as the lens through which to view low-income residents of these communities and their experiences accessing health care. By providing a snapshot of medical debt, we hope to contribute a realistic perspective on how fixed income and medical need operate to limit choices -- and often result in devastating financial consequences.
As we look at Medical Debt and other issues impacting our heath care system, it becomes increasingly clear that unless and until we adopt a system of universal health coverage, we will continue to battle dysfunction and dislocation in access to and delivery of vital health care services.
Download the PDF: In Sickness and in Debt
