Health Care facts and figures, from HealthReform.gov (thanks, HHS Secretary Sebelius!)
DELAWAREANS CAN’T AFFORD THE STATUS QUO
Roughly 575,000 people in Delaware get health insurance on the job, where family premiums average $14,579, about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job.
Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 108 percent in Delaware.
Household budgets are strained by high costs: 24 percent of middle-income Delaware families spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care.
High costs block access to care: 11 percent of people in Delaware report not visiting a doctor due to high costs.
Delaware businesses and families shoulder a hidden health tax of roughly $1,000 per year on premiums as a direct result of subsidizing the costs of the uninsured.AFFORDABLE HEALTH COVERAGE IS INCREASINGLY OUT OF REACH IN DELAWARE
12 percent of people in Delaware are uninsured, and 69 percent of them are in families with at least one full-time worker.
The percent of Delawareans with employer coverage is declining: from 73 to 67 percent between 2000 and 2007.
Much of the decline is among workers in small businesses. While small businesses make up 70 percent of Delaware businesses, only 45 percent of them offered health coverage benefits in 2006.
Choice of health insurance is limited in Delaware. CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield alone constitutes 42 percent of the health insurance market share in Delaware, with the top two insurance providers accounting for 65 percent.
Choice is even more limited for people with pre-existing conditions. In Delaware, premiums can vary based on demographic factors and health status, and coverage can exclude pre-existing conditions or even be denied completely in some cases.
(h/t DKos)
Mike Castle, of course, gets his health insurance via single-payer public option. And so do 9.2 million Americans through the Department of Defense. And yet, Republicans insist the system that serves our nations troops is too terrible to inflict on ordinary Americans. Ask a veteran – such as our own Donviti – and they’ll likely tell you that they much prefer the public option.