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Posted on Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 7:04 p.m.

America's economic crisis: Health care and the food gap

By Wayne Baker

0921 Universal healthcare map.jpg

Nations around the world with universal health care. Orange countries have some form of universal health care. Yellow countries are in the process of extending universal coverage. Shown in brown are Iraq and Afghanistan where the U.S. is supplementing the health care system. Gray countries have no universal health care. Wikipedia mapping specialist Devon Moore created this at-a-glance look at healthcare around the world.

Editor's note: This post is part of a series by Dr. Baker on Our Values about core American values. This week, Dr. Baker is discussing poverty in America and other issues that stem from it.

Got health care?

Health insurance coverage is one of the casualties in a bad economy. Sliding incomes mean cost cutting, and paying health insurance premiums can be the victim. People with employer-based jobs lose coverage when they lose jobs. And many jobs in the new economy are precarious, coming without health insurance.

Those of us with good health insurance are fortunate. Almost 50 million Americans (16.3 percent) lacked health insurance in 2010, according to the latest statistics compiled by the U.S. Census. That’s about the same as it was in 2009.

Among those with health insurance, coverage by private programs is falling. It has been declining since 2001, and it fell again in 2010. Employment-based health insurance is falling as a part of this overall trend.

In contrast, coverage by public programs — Medicare, Medicaid, military health care, state health plans and the Children’s Health Insurance Program — is rising. That’s why cuts to these programs have to be considered very carefully.

Poverty is up, as we discussed on Monday. And children living in poverty are far more likely to be uninsured, compared to all children. Currently, 9.8 percent of children under age 18 do not have health insurance — about 7.3 million Americans.

It’s not surprising that Americans with higher incomes are more likely to have health insurance, compared to those with lower incomes: about 27 percent of Americans living in household with incomes less than $25,000 per year, in contrast to 8 percent of Americans with annual incomes of $75,000 or more.

The foreign-born population is especially likely to be without health insurance — more than twice as likely as the native-born.

Some say health care is a right, not a privilege. How about health insurance coverage? Should coverage itself be a right? Should everyone be able to get it, even if they can’t afford it?

People without health insurance add to the costs of our already expensive healthcare system because they delay healthcare and get sicker, and often use costly services, such as the emergency room, for primary care services.

Are you alarmed by the decline in health insurance coverage?

Do you think getting health insurance is a right or a privilege?


What's the food gap in your area?

Do you have a food gap in your area?

If you’re a regular OurValues reader, then you may recall the article last year with the photo of gigantic carrots. Or you might remember the 2-question quiz on hunger in America. I’ll tell you more about the creative program with the giant carrots in a moment.

But, first, here’s the context: All this week, we’re talking about increasing poverty in America. Increasing food insecurity comes with increasing poverty. In plain language: More Americans are going hungry now. We’re talking about huge numbers of men, women and children who sometimes don’t have enough food to eat — right here in the United States.

Feeding America, a national organization of food banks, provides a detailed map of food insecurity at local, state, and national levels. Click on the following link, and you’ll jump to the Feeding America website where you can check out the food security rate anywhere in America. I would say the tool is “cool” except for the serious problem it illuminates. You’ll also find a concise definition of “food insecurity” on that website, just below the map.

The food gap in Washtenaw County, where I live in Michigan, is 13.8 percent. This translates to 47,890 individuals. And this is a relatively affluent area. Fortunately, there are companies like Zingerman’s Community of Businesses that have take steps to alleviate the problem. One of their businesses is Food Gatherers, a nonprofit food rescue, food bank and food distribution organization. It’s the program with the big carrots out front.

In 2010-11, Food Gatherers distributed 5.25 million pounds of food, enough for 12,000 meals a day. Due to their efforts, 30 percent of the food was fresh produce. Food Gatherers helped to serve 100,000 healthy meals. Fifteen students graduated from Food Gatherers’ job-training program at their Community Kitchen. They raised more than $370,000 through their signature fundraising events. And a whole lot more.

While Washington debates cuts to all sorts of social support programs, some Americans are taking matters into their own hands.

Is there a food gap in your community?

Are you surprised to find hungry people in your area?

What is being done about it?

Originally published at http://www.OurValues.org

Dr. Wayne E. Baker is a sociologist on the faculty of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Baker blogs daily at Our Values and can be reached at ourvaluesproject@gmail.com or on Facebook.

Comments

BhavanaJagat

Sat, Sep 24, 2011 : 5:43 p.m.

The term 'Universal Health Care' is misleading. Who is investing whose funds to pay for health care? I have often obeserved that we tend to discuss this issue called health care without defining the term health. I would ask this author to define the term health and present his views on health care. Public funds are getting looted and a few weeks ago, we read the story about a Pharmacist in Canton who is facing charges for illegal billing to an extent of 50 million dollars. Hospitals, health care providers and others in health insurance industry/suppliers are enriching themselves with easily available funds from Medicaid/Medicare and other related services. We are not able to stem this rot. Government spending must be curbed and may have to be totally stopped if there is no accountability. As far as food is concerned, I want to ask the author to define what is food and state its functions. The most important nutritional disorder of our times is that of obesity including childhood obesity. Hunger is a subjective experience and obese individuals like all others experience hunger. We should not cause aggravation of this problem called obesity and then find a lack of resources to fight problems caused by obesity such as Diabetes. I read recent reports that claim that we need to spend billions of dollars just to address the problem of Diabetes.