Nevada No. 2 in 18- to 64-year-olds without health insurance

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

1. By vmanstuff

   6/15/09 at 8:06 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   I would love to see a further breakdown within the 18 - 64 range. Most young people dont get health insurance even when they CAN afford to do so. When you are young you think you wll never be sick. I'm willing to bet that the 18 - 25 range is what is keeping this number so high. Could the LV Sun please provide us with a further breakdown?

2. By vmanstuff

   6/15/09 at 8:22 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   I cant seem to find this study on the CDC web site. Could Mr Morris please provide a link to this study?

3. By Alex Richards (Staff)

   6/15/09 at 9:22 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   vmanstuff: this information comes from the CDC's annual Behavior Risk Factor Survey System -
   http://www.cdc.gov/BRFSS/

   Also, I believe the U.S. Census keeps data on insurance access for different age groups -
   http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/h...

   I hope these links are helpful.

4. By Patrick_R_Gibbons

   6/15/09 at 11:10 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   1) Drop the mandates (Nevada ranks very high in terms of how many things we require people to buy...so its not surprising that by requiring luxury health insurance some people can't afford it.
   2) Allow residents to buy insurance policies issued in any state (increases risk pool allowing cost to be spread further which reduces premiums).

   I don't think I've ever seen the Sun make these two points.

5. By cnev

   6/15/09 at 3:29 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   I'm curious-
   What is the breakout for this age group in terms of employment and the ability to purchase health care from the employer?
   How many are unemployed?
   How many people in this age group work less than the full time required for health insurance?
   Are employers scheduling employees so the requirement to provide a health plan is not a part of the employment?
   Is it too expensive to purchase it?
   Does it have anything to do with the fact Las Vegas and most of Nevada is a service industry?
   Wyy Nevada and Texas?

6. By UNLVStud

   6/15/09 at 5:11 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   This is just another indication on how the free market has failed the American people for so many years. Instead of creating a health care system, it has created a death care system that profits from disease rather than from cures.

   In response, the government needs to offer a single payer system option like almost every other industrialized country. It should be easy to implement because it's already in existence in this country. All of the millions of Armed Forces members, Congress, the Executive branch, and others are already on the government system already. Just expand it to include everyone.

   And while you're at it, change how doctors and nurses get paid under the plan. Get them away from the incentives that drive up health care costs such as ordering unnecessary tests or prescribing multiple drugs in order to make money. They should be rewarded for helping their patients get better. They should be compensated well for doing that. After all, isn't that why most people enter the health care field?

   Finally, there is no reason why the US, the Greatest Country on Earth, has to have a poor health care system. No longer should US Citizens have to go to an emergency room as their primary care facility. No longer should US Citizens have to be excluded from coverage because of pre-existing conditions. The time is now to demand that every citizen be given access to quality health care.

7. By Patrick_R_Gibbons

   6/15/09 at 5:58 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   LVstud, our health care system is far from free market...you may have missed my points above but

   1) The government requires luxury healthcare via mandates. That means people are forced to buy coverage they may not want or need.

   2) Government prohibits individuals from buying out of state policies (meaning we can't take advantage of larger pools

   3) Government subsidizes businesses to offer this as nontaxable income for workers. Workers who don't get employee provided care get no such tax break.

   That isn't a free market. Add on top of it the fact that the health insurance and care industry are heavily regulated, require tons of licensing, and the government favors insurance over savings accounts and you have a bloated bureaucratic unresponsive system whose cost is guaranteed to spiral upward and out of control.

   Ironically, government managed care promises to provide the same crappy results - we just trade one bureaucratic third party payer nightmare for another.

8. By UNLVStud

   6/16/09 at 2:29 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   Patrick,

   (1) The government's "luxury" mandates are there because the free market has failed to cover such basic preventive medical care solutions such as the HPV vaccine or therapy for autistic children. Without government mandates, citizens would continue to get the shaft with insurance coverage that doesn't cover their needs. Mandates would not be needed if the insurance programs covered them in the first place.

   (2) Local control over just about every industry is way better, in my opinion, than national control. What national control would do is essentially de-regulate the insurance industry something I believe most people do not want to see happen. It would remove all protections States have enacted to ensure that their citizens receive a decent level of coverage.

   (3) Look, the best solution is for a single payer system run by the government. Everyone would be covered. Everyone would pay into it. There would be no need to subsidize business. In fact, it would be a huge financially break for businesses since they would no longer have to provide insurance for their employees because the employees would be able to choose the government system or a private plan.

   (4) The bureaucracy is already in place for millions of Americans as I stated above. I have not heard any military individuals or their families complain about the care they receive under the government run plan. In fact, I'm quite jealous that they have it so good. I can't fathom why more citizens wouldn't want to be covered in the same way.

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