Health Care in McCain's Small Universe

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

Kudos to Prof. Tony Sheppard at CSUS, whose careful reading of the newspaper leads us to this story about McCain's recent doctor's visit and cancer screening.

The offending comment:

"Like most Americans, I go see my doctor fairly frequently."

Of course, he can. As a member of Congress, he has access to fancy health coverage through the federal government, which pools together millions of federal workers and provides a really impressive array of options.

For health advocates, though, this off-the-cuff comment belies a deeper concern: Sen. McCain's lack of empathy and understanding for what Americans face is startlingly scary. Because he believes that most have "fairly frequent'' access to the doctor, he sees nothing wrong with his health proposal, a scheme that would cause more people to have worse coverage and bear increasing costs to stay healthy and productive.

For 47 million Americans who lack health insurance and countless others who have inadequate coverage through high-deductible health plans or other products of that ilk, seeing a doctor "fairly frequently'' is a fiction. And given that approximately 2 million more Americans became uninsured annually every year since 2000, we can only expect that number to grow.

If you're uninsured, or have inadequate health coverage, and you're forced to foot 100 percent of the bill to see a doctor - you're not going to go. "I'm healthy; I don't need a mammogram; I don't need a colonoscopy?'' many rationalize. The evidence is there: uninsured patients spend less than *half* the amount that insured people do on health care, according to the Institute on Medicine. Specifically with regard to doctors - 71% of Americans with insurance see a doctor annual, versus 41% of those with no insurance.