Even With Insurance, Unemployed Have Worse Health Outcomes
Report finds that high co-pays, deductibles can still make medical care unaffordable.
TUESDAY, January. 24, 2012— individual without occupations
who have health insurance are less likely to get medical care or prescription
drugs than people with jobs who have such coverage, United state health
officials reported Tuesday.
During the depths of the recent recession, people without a
job reached 9.6 percent, a level not seen since 1983. Because health
insurance affects access to care and most people rely on getting insured
through their employer, researchers wanted to look at the effect of joblessness
and lower income on access to health care, according to the United States
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Insurance without a profession is a hard position
to be in," said report author Anne Driscoll, a senior fellow at the CDC's
National Center for Health Statistics.
They found that private insurance, which experts think is
the most comprehensive, was no guarantee of better health care.
"If you had private insurance but weren't in a job, you
had worse mental health, worse physical health and were less likely to get
prescriptions you needed or care that you needed than if you had a job,"
Driscoll said.
Cost of care appears to be the overriding factor why having
private insurance and no job was associated with lack of access to care, she
said.
"Because you don't have a job, deductibles and
co-payments are the reasons you can't use your insurance to the fullest. You're
better having insurance than no insurance, but it's not a panacea. A job and
insurance is the most advantageous category to be in, not just being
insured," Driscoll said.
Highlights of the report include:
More of the unemployed had public insurance than those
employed.
The insured unemployed were less likely to get medical care
because of cost than the insured employed.
The uninsured were less likely to get medical care and
prescription drugs because of cost than people with public or private
insurance, regardless of whether they had jobs or not.
The insured unemployed were less likely to get prescription
drugs because of cost than the insured employed.
The unemployed were more likely to be black, have less than
a high school education and have an income below the poverty level.
"During the recession, the use of health care
plummeted. We had a 19.5 percent drop in primary care in the United
States," she said.
"That's a uniquely American issue because we have such
high co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services that people can't afford
to use care," she said.
This study shows that even if people lost their jobs and
held onto their insurance, they couldn't afford to use health care, Woolhandler
said.
"While there will still be 23 million uninsured after
health reform is fully implemented, it's a whole lot less than it would be
otherwise," she said.
"It will be a little worse after health reform, because
the new policies that will be offered will be quite a bit skimpier than an
employer policy is now. And there will be high co-pays, high deductibles. So
even if you hang on to your insurance you likely won't be able to afford
care," she said.
But, having health insurance will not mean that you can
afford care if you lose your job, Woolhandler added.
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