September 23, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
Can’t Afford to Get Sick: A Reality for Millions of Americans, by John Budetti, Lisa Duchon, Cathy Schoen, and Janet Shikles, previews key findings from The Commonwealth Fund 1999 National Survey of Workers’ Health Insurance, due in December. This preliminary report is based on a survey of 5,002 Americans aged 18 to 64 conducted this year. Among its discoveries: One in three adults earning below the median family income of $35,000 lacks insurance; a third of working Hispanics cannot get insurance through their employers, as opposed to 18 per cent of whites and 17 per cent of blacks; and an estimated 40 million Americans of working age did not fill a needed prescription, get a recommended medical test, or seek a doctor when necessary because they could not afford it. The report also found a “surprising” number of individuals with incomes above the median level who were hounded by collection agencies due to unpaid medical bills — 14 per cent of people earning between $35,000 and $60,000 fell that far behind in their payments, say the authors. Publisher: Commonwealth Fund, One East 75th Street, New York 10021-2692; (212) 606-3800; fax (212) 606-3500; http://www.cmwf.org; 12 pages; free.
