Health Care Costs Sky-Rocket in Pittsfield
The Berkshire Eagle reported today about the skyrocketing cost of health insurance to the city of Pittsfield. Insurance fees are to rise $2.5 million, or 14% percent this year. Mayor James Ruberto expressed the need for a radical change to the health care system. "The health care system is broken. It is absolutely broken, and it needs immediate attention to determine how it can be fixed." (click here for full text)
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report (click here for full report) to launch its annual Cover the Uninsured Week (May 1-8). The report had several interesting findings specific to Massachusetts, among them:
- More than 1 in 10 have been without insurance for a year or more.
- 1 in 3 uninsured adults were unable to see a doctor when they needed one because they couldn’t afford to.
- Uninsurance rates for Blacks and Hispanics are much higher. Almost 1 in 4 Blacks and 1 in 3 Hispanics lacked coverage .
- To put it in context, Massachusetts had the second biggest gap in coverage rates between Blacks and Whites in the US – right behind Louisiana.
The RWJ report provides the hard numbers behind the human tragedies and moral outrage caused by uninsurance. After decades of reforms, income and race remain the major predictors of access to health insurance and of health outcomes. But uninsurance is a problem for everyone and the health care amendment will ensure that everyone can get affordable access to medically necessary care when they need it.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report (click here for full report) to launch its annual Cover the Uninsured Week (May 1-8). The report had several interesting findings specific to Massachusetts, among them:
- More than 1 in 10 have been without insurance for a year or more.
- 1 in 3 uninsured adults were unable to see a doctor when they needed one because they couldn’t afford to.
- Uninsurance rates for Blacks and Hispanics are much higher. Almost 1 in 4 Blacks and 1 in 3 Hispanics lacked coverage .
- To put it in context, Massachusetts had the second biggest gap in coverage rates between Blacks and Whites in the US – right behind Louisiana.
The RWJ report provides the hard numbers behind the human tragedies and moral outrage caused by uninsurance. After decades of reforms, income and race remain the major predictors of access to health insurance and of health outcomes. But uninsurance is a problem for everyone and the health care amendment will ensure that everyone can get affordable access to medically necessary care when they need it.
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