One in five Rhode Islanders will be without health insurance at some point in 2010. And 140,000 are uninsured right now. That number is expected to grow, given our state’s unemployment situation and changing industrial patterns.
These are some of the troubling facts reported in a study, commissioned by the Rhode Island Foundation and myself, of Rhode Island’s uninsured that was presented last night as part of a series of talks I’m hosting on health care reform in Rhode Island.
The numbers don’t begin to acknowledge the harsh and personal toll on families and individuals living without insurance. But for the first time, we have numbers to work with regarding the cost of the uninsured—and some of the numbers presented last night do offer a ray of hope.
We’re already spending $604 million on covering the uninsured, which includes patients’ out-of-pocket costs, hospitals’ costs, and federal funds. That’s a lot of money. The study estimates that it would cost $138 million more to cover the uninsured. We have the opportunity to create a more effective health care system, and in doing so, be able to provide coverage to the uninsured, who in turn would use the health-care system more appropriately.
We know that with insurance, people form relationships with primary-care physicians and that leads to better care—rather than waiting to get treatment until a medical problem becomes a dire situation, as the uninsured are often forced to do. Timely treatment ultimately saves the system money, and it offers better quality of life for all—something I would hope we can all get behind.