Articles

Healthcare in America: Message from the Co-Chairs

By James T. Laney and Andrew Young
Excerpted from the FATC Newsletter, Summer 2001

In terms of economic and military power, the United States ranks first among the nations of the world. But when it comes to healthcare for our people -- all of our people -- we don't even make the top 20 by a number of fundamental measures. In fact, by some standards, we rank closer to the world's developing nations than to many of our industrialized counterparts. How can this be? After all, we spend more than a trillion dollars a year on healthcare, far more than any other nation.

One reason is that 44 million people in the United States have no health insurance coverage -- and most of them are workers and their families. In fact, 25 million men and women who are employed have no health insurance. That is 18 percent of the nation's total workforce at higher risk than the general population for health-related problems that potentially impact jobs, employers, and the economy.

In Georgia alone, nearly one of every five people under 65 was uninsured in 1997-99 -- more than 1.3 million people, including 360,000 children. Research indicates that children without insurance are more likely -- 70 percent more likely than children with insurance -- to receive no medial treatment for ear infections and other illnesses that can lead to more serious ailments when untreated.

Nationwide, over half of the uninsured population is low-income. Nearly one of every five is a child in a low-income household. Few uninsured households can afford regular access to medical treatment, with total healthcare expenditures per person averaging more than $4,000 a year. It is not surprising, then, that people in the lowest-income households are five times more likely to report their health as fair or poor than people in the highest-income households.

The link between income and healthcare is obvious. Millions of low-come American families cannot afford the excellent healthcare that most of us enjoy. As a society, we often seem oblivious, even unconcerned about this distressing fact. Equally distressing is the enormous gap between the richest and poorest members of our society -- a gap that continues to grow.

From 1979 to 1997, the after-tax income of the wealthiest 1 percent of the population grew by more than 150 percent -- from over $260,000 to nearly $680,000. Meanwhile, the average after-tax income of the lowest-earning 20 percent of Americans actually dropped from $10,900 to $10,800. What kind of healthcare can anybody afford with such an income when the average per capita healthcare expenditure exceeds $4,000 a year?

Something is very wrong when millions of Americans cannot afford to pay for healthcare. In fact, rising costs are straining millions who can afford to pay, including individuals and employers. Finally, the question is whether we even get what we pay for in terms of overall performance of our healthcare system.

As the world's wealthiest and most egalitarian society, we should be a pacesetter in healthcare, placing quality medical treatment within the reach of all of our people. We should be the society leading others toward the ideal described by the World Health Organization, which insists that "health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

In this newsletter, Faith And The City frames selected facts from the nation's healthcare debate. Please take the time to consider this critical public issue -- and to voice your opinion.