22 Year old Dies Uninsured
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| Tue, 09-29-2009 - 9:05am |
Like a large number of young people in this country, this young woman was uninsured. Most young people can't afford private insurance because the jobs they hold don't offer it or don't pay enough. These are kids who haven't yet gotten their first "good" job with benefits. Some are still in college. Some are working p/t while going to school. Some may not, for various reasons, be retained on their parents' health insurance. In any case, most of them rarely earn enough to pay for health insurance so they do without.
Shouldn't there be something in place to protect these young people?
Uninsured 22-Year-Old Boehner Constituent Dies From Swine Flu
A 22-year-old woman from Oxford, Ohio, died from swine flu on Wednesday. Kimberly Young graduated from Miami University in December and continued to live in Oxford, Ohio, within Minority Leader John Boehner’s congressional distrct. Reports now indicate that after initially getting sick, Young put off treatment because she was uninsured:
Young became ill about two weeks ago, but didn’t seek care initially because she didn’t have health insurance and was worried about the cost, according to Brent Mowery, her friend and former roommate.
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Young’s condition suddenly worsened and her roommate drove her to McCullough Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford, where she was flown in critical condition to University Hospital in Cincinnati.
“That’s the most tragic part about it. If she had insurance, she would have gone to the doctor,†Mowery said.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 30 percent of 19-24 year olds are uninsured, more than any other group. Despite the conservative argument that young people are voluntarily refusing health coverage in favor of extra spending money, the reality is that high costs on the individual market put coverage out of reach. As Suzy Khimm notes at Campus Progress, young people “are far more likely to be working part-time or lower-paying jobs for employers who don’t offer coverageâ€:
In its 2008 study, the Commonwealth Fund found that 66 percent of young adults aged 19 to 29 who experienced a time without coverage in the past year said they had gone without it because of the cost.
Young people might have a better chance of accessing comprehensive coverage if there were a public plan, which could lower the cost of insurance, particularly for those without good employer benefits. Young people may also have a better chance at coverage if there were generous subsidies for lower-income individuals, as many take lower-paying jobs when they first enter the workforce.
Even though Boehner represents a large university, he has been an outspoken opponent of a public option that would make insurance cheaper and more accessible to recent graduates like Young. On Meet the Press last week, the Minority Leader continued to stick to the obstructionist Frank Luntz-endorsed talking points, dismissing the public option as “big government†while defending a watered-down plan.


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Doctors, on the other hand, ARE in the business to save your life. Yes, they want to make money, but most doctors really don't earn as much as you might think. Cardio and neuro surgeons and OBGYN's are at the top of the pay scale, most other physicians earn a decent living but it doesn't come close to what most corporate executives earn. And CEO's don't have even a fracture of the aggravation or life/death responsibility that doctors face every day.
Just an aside...OBGYNs are the ones most likely to face unwarranted malpractice suits as well.
Did she have student loans?
From your link:
Her mother said Young started experiencing flu-like symptoms last week and was admitted to an Oxford, Ohio hospital. She was given an H1N1 test, treated for the flu and released.
NOT a clinic...a Hospital ER.
That was unacceptably offensive.
"What type of health care does England have?"
It's called the National Health Service (NHS). X amount is taken out of one's pay, just like tax. Everyone has a medical card.
Please don't put words in my mouth. I would be greatly offended if just one person died a preventable death. You, or anyone else, at this point cannot "predict" what may happen if we get a new health plan passed, but YOU, as well as millions of others in this country, can investigate and find out exactly how many people have needlessly died under our current health care programs.
Is that acceptable to you? Do you not care if people die due to a lack of health care when they can't afford it? I certainly do......and I'll speak for the masses here and say all liberals care about the people living in this great land of ours. It's the arrogant, pompus, rich right wingers who don't want health care reform. Because if it is passed, then that's one less thing they can point to and say they're better than the common man or woman because, by god, they "earned" their health care, and to hell with the ones who can't afford it. Very typical.....and one of the reasons they were thrown out on their azzes in 08 because the rest of us were sick and tired of being sick and tired!!!
If you don't have a pre-existing condition, I doubt you'd ever understand. I'd love to be able to work again. But what insurance company would want someone that has at least 4 pre-existing conditions.
I have never heard that people would have to go to clinic's. But then I never listen to Fox's news!
"If you don't have a pre-existing condition, I doubt you'd ever understand."
I understand very well. My son has several pre-existing conditions.
Not everyone lives in your state - maybe you weren't aware of that? $400/month may well put the cost out of reach for some young adults, especially those working part time while in school. Not every state allows parents to keep their children on their insurance to age 26, my daughter lost coverage on her 22nd birthday and her father has federal Blue Cross. Didn't matter is she was in school or not. Private insurance for her would be nearly $1000/month - more than her take-home pay. Wouldn't leave enough for gas, car insurance, or even copays all because she has an existing condition. Amazingly even Blue Cross wants to up her premium due to her 'pre-existing' condition even though they had been the company that had insured her for her entire life.
The compassion I have seen from the 'compassionate' conservatives is remarkably underwhelming.
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