Working Age Citizens Pay more for Less Health Care Coverage. That's the GOP Plan!!!

The bottom line on the “free market” health care proposals by the Republican Party is simple: Allow people to buy what they need and can afford.

Think about it. What that creates is an entire nation of underinsured Americans who would be an uncovered medical issue away from total bankruptcy. But it also creates a false sense of security, which for Republicans, is their deceptive and emotionally charged way of selling it.  

Since we already have a free market, private sector health care system in place, it’s easy to gauge where the Republican, specifically Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan, is headed. With no basic standard in place, ala carte plans will rule the day, providing everyone with junk policies. It’s happening already.  

LA Times: Healthcare costs rose while insurance coverage fell, studies show: The changes have left nearly half the working-age population without enough protection from illness. Altogether, 44% of American adults were either uninsured or underinsured last year, according to the Commonwealth Fund.

An estimated 29 million adults who had health insurance lacked adequate coverage in 2010, leaving them exposed to medical expenses such as high deductibles that they couldn't afford, according to a survey by the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund. That is up from 16 million underinsured people in 2003. "Underinsured families are at nearly as high risk as the uninsured because, while they have health insurance, holes or limits in their plans expose them to often unaffordable medical costs."

Fifty-two million adults ages 19 to 64 did not have insurance at some point in 2010, up from 46 million in 2003. That has left nearly half the working-age population without enough protection from illness.

The typical family of four with employer-based coverage saw its total monthly healthcare tab almost double between 1999 and 2009 — from $805 to $1,420 — researchers at the Rand Corp. found.

Rising out-of-pocket medical bills were so corrosive, the study found, that they virtually wiped out income gains over the decade, leaving the typical family with just $95 more a month to spend on things other than healthcare in 2009, compared with 1999. Some of the increased healthcare burden came from higher insurance premiums and increases for co-payments and deductibles.

The Rand and Commonwealth Fund researchers said the new healthcare law that President Obama signed last year could bring some relief, particularly to Americans without adequate insurance who will qualify for subsidized insurance starting in 2014. That could reduce the number of underinsured adults as much as 70%, the Commonwealth report concluded.