No, they were looking at the whole cohort of uninsured. You make too much of the subsequent phrase.
There is nothing incompatible with the census estimates and what I quoted. I defined the 7 to 8 million as those who were uninsured for more than 2 years.
Underinsurance is an interesting question, of course, but I find it hard to evaluate when it is defined in the terms mentioned. Do we, for example, call for subsidizing car purchases because the gross costs would exceed ten percent of most people's incomes (even a pretty cheap car usually runs about $10,000--- how many people make $100,000 dollars?). Nor is it enough to say that car are discretionary. In most places, they are not. If you do not have a vehicle, it is almost impossible to have a job, even if you are driving to the Metro station. Plus, it is not unusual for catastrophic problems with cars costing more than 10% of one's income, especially if one gets a junker in the first place. (When I was younger, I had a car that cost me over $3000 in repairs in one year). What we do is allow borrowing to offset these expenses. Why should we not trust in that for this problem? And if we decide that subsidy is necessary, it still need not result in the overhaul of the entire health care system....... |
