Could rising costs in healthcare actually bring up the cost of buying a car?!?! Yes, it could, and it already does - at least for cars bought in the U.S. It makes a difference between the cost of a car bought in the United States and one bought in a foreign country, because most other countries have healthcare that is funded through their government. General Motors estimates that its healthcare costs add $1,500 to the price tag of each car. They also claim that healthcare costs have risen for their company, by up to 87% in the last 6 years.
Statistics now show that 1 out of every 7 people in the U.S. now have no insurance. Fourty-seven million Americans have no insurance. There are also rising premiums and lower reimbursements for those who actually do have insurance. The need for affordable healthcare certainly isn't going away. It is projected to account for 20% of all spending by 2015. By 2015, over 50% of all money spent on healthcare is also projected to come from government health plans, such as Medicare, Medicaid and veterans programs.
Needless to say, groups that were once at odds over healthcare, are now at least in agreement that there is a need for broad reform. Both left and right-wing politicians are now in agreement that drastic reform is definitely needed. When you have a corporate giant such as General Motors adding $1,500 to the cost of each car, because of health insurance issues, you know that it is not just a problem for the little people.
Changes are already being made on both corporate and state levels. Massachusetts is experimenting to provide universal health coverage by requiring all residents to buy policies, with subsidies being provided to those too poor to buy their own insurance. Employers with no plans are taxed to cover their employees. California, and twelve other states, are also experimenting with similar plans.
America's Health Insurance Plans, a lobbying group for insurers, joined January with Families USA on a plan to extend health care coverage to all children and the uninsured. Insurance companies are fearful of losing profits, and that is why they harshly denounced the Clinton plan that was being developed and offered around fourteen years ago. Hmmm...
CEO of Walmart and Andy Stern, president of the 1.8 million member Service Employees International Union, have formed an alliance to push for universal coverage. They have also formed an alliance in Better Healthcare together (which includes AT&T, Intel, Kelly Services, and Communications Workers of America). They are raising the question: does tying insurance to employment still make sense? I personally don't think so. What happens to private business owners who run businesses out of their homes? What happens to independent contractors? What happens when someone is in between jobs? We are still paying for bills because there were hospital and doctor's visits while my husband was between jobs. Why should people be paying for hospital and doctor's visits the rest of their lives, and why should older people be forced to make a decision between a healthy meal and their medicine? I shouldn't have to think twice about whether or not I should take a child to the doctor, because of the cost. Something definitely needs to be done, and that is what people are now saying - even at the top, on both sides of the political agendas.