The public is concerned about the issue of the uninsured, with more than three-quarters saying that increasing the number of Americans covered by health insurance is a very important priority for the President and Congress to address. However, access to health care ranks behind health care costs in terms of issues the public thinks are most important for the government to address.
While the public knows that the number of Americans without health insurance has increased in recent years, they are less knowledgeable about who the uninsured are. Since 1994, around half the public has incorrectly believed that the uninsured are more likely to be unemployed or to come from families where no one is employed. While many Americans recognize the problems the uninsured face in getting care, more than four in ten (43%) do not realize that the uninsured are more likely than the insured to have hospital or emergency room visits that could have been avoided.
The Public Agrees on the Goals…
Most Americans agree that access to health care and insurance coverage is something that everyone should have. In addition, roughly two thirds agree that the federal government should guarantee medical care for Americans who don’t have insurance, even if it means raising taxes.
But Not Necessarily the Solution…
While the public supports action to extend health insurance coverage, there is little agreement on how to solve the problem. For example, Americans are divided over whether the government should make a major or a limited effort to provide health insurance to the uninsured. When presented with a variety of policy options that would extend health insurance coverage to more Americans, the public expresses a high level of support for each option, but when asked to select the best option, no single one attracts widespread support.
Or How to Pay…
In addition to disagreement about which policy options are best, willingness to pay remains one of the toughest obstacles to providing insurance coverage for the uninsured. Fewer than half of adults say they would be willing to pay more in higher insurance premiums or taxes in order to increase the number of insured Americans, while half (51%) they would not be willing to pay more.
Experiences of the uninsured:
The high cost of insurance is the most often-cited reason the uninsured give when asked why they don’t have coverage. Those without health insurance are much more likely than their insured counterparts to report postponing health care, not filling prescriptions and to have problems paying medical bills. While medical bills can present a serious problem for many families, those without health insurance are more likely than those with insurance to experience serious consequences from medical bills such as being contacted by a collection agency, or using up all or most of their savings.
Note: while this last section includes a brief summary of survey data that show some of the experiences of the uninsured, it is not a comprehensive analysis of the problems the uninsured face in accessing care.
For more information resources about the uninsured, including work from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, please visit: http://www.kff.org/uninsured/index.cfm
