The Effects of Expensive Healthcare on Individuals


Since the government and private health insurance firms have been involved in paying healthcare costs using employer-based schemes, high costs of healthcare will be devastating to individuals who will be required to pay the difference. Government programs like Medicaid and Medicare are probably going to be insolvent in 2033. Employers will transfer health costs to employees by increasing premiums, reducing full-time jobs, and reducing wages. This will cause high unemployment and increased part-time without benefits. Read on for a review of high costs of healthcare to the retiring and those nearing retirement, nursing home residents, and the working class.

The Retired and Those About To Retire

Programs like Medicaid and Medicare are a significant part of the federal budget. However, the population of the so called baby boomers or US adults above 65 years is growing rapidly. This means there are more people covered by Medicare programs and less money for covering them. The retirees will have to meet their healthcare costs. Considering the lack of retirement savings and the loss of pension, many retirees do not have enough money to maintain their living standards or afford a higher level of healthcare that is associated with aging.

Nursing Home Residents

The greatest effect of costly health insurance would be on the disabled or those who reside in nursing homes. Up to 7 out of 10 nursing home residents use Medicaid, according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. This high number is because middle class patients also go through their savings to be able to afford nursing home costs and so they turn to the program out of necessity.

If state governments were to reduce their Medicaid funding, the result would be that those benefiting from the program would be forced out of nursing homes to poor quality facilities or to home-based care.

Working Americans

The expense for company funded health insurance is slowly being moved from the employer to employees via a high allocation of premium, higher deductibles, and higher co-pays. A study by Kaiser Family Foundation shows that in 2011, employees used $4,129 per year for healthcare premiums which was twice the amount they used in 2011. Some other effects of increased premiums include:

• Low Wage and Salary Increases: A report by the "Council of Economic Advisers" found that salary and wage increases are restricted in firms which bear high health insurance costs.

• Family Members Will Remain Uninsured: Employees who are in low paying jobs are likely to drop their family coverage because of its high cost. As a result, non-working family members won't be insured.

• Degradation of Elderly Care: Disabled or older family members may not be able to meet the cost of nursing homes and will be attended to in their family's homes.

• Rise in Local Government Taxes and Fees: Taxes for property are likely to rise due to the high cost of caring for a huge population of uninsured people through public hospitals. According to Families USA, as of 2010, the number of uninsured people was more than $60 billion.

• Degradation of Medical Care: Physicians are likely to spend little time with each patient and the rate of misdiagnoses will increase. Another factor is the reduction of nursing staff which would mean one nurse would be responsible for many patients.

• Cuts on Social Security and Medicare: The working class who are below the age of 55 years are not eligible for Medicare until they attain 66 years above. Working class who do not qualify for Medicare are charged more for medical costs. According to experts, such people use their social security benefits to pay for healthcare.

• Escalation of Jaw and Dental Problems: With more people being unable to meet their health costs, the cases of oral cancers, dental caries, and sports-related craniofacial injuries are on the rise as families forgo dental care and coverage.

Summing It Up

The high cost of health care is impacting on everyone including the elderly, those in nursing homes, and the working class. As a result, the elderly neglect their basic health requirements and end up using up their pension to meet their health care costs. Those in nursing homes are forced to resort to home-based care, and the working class have decided to settle for poor health facilities or to do away with healthcare.