When I did my Single Payer post I should have included the cover story from Pensacola’s alt weekly, The Independent News.
Today Escambia County voted on a ½¢ increase to the sales tax to cover the cost of the uninsured in the county. The INWeekly bundled a couple of stories as The Cost Of The Uninsured to give people a feel for the problem.
It’s worth a read, because the situation is only going to get worse until we get serious about solving it.
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4 comments
thanks for the link. i missed it.
It’s not like there is any real media in the Panhandle to get out the word.
The final comment by Alcala says a mouthful – ” I don’t see how it will affect those of us who do pay for health insurance at all. But to me it’s good to help those who don’t have insurance and can’t pay a doctor.”
Those of us who do pay for insurance (otherwise known as ‘extortion’) are growing in number every day as employers shift more of the cost to employees or dump group health altogether. If the trend continues – and it will – we will soon join the ranks of the uninsured.
The clinic is a response to several problems – the murders of OB/GYNs in Pensacola by members of Operation Rescue, the spiking of malpractice insurance after the Wall Street bubble burst, and the loss of health insurance by many workers. An OB/GYN can’t make a living in private practice around here, because the majority of her/his patients will be on Medicare.
The basic problem is that the more it costs, the longer people will wait before seeking help, and the bigger, and more expensive the problem.