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Health care access: The issue

When Americans have no health insurance or cannot afford the rising deductibles or premiums of their current coverage, their care suffers. Our country is a great one, but a great one with 45 million uninsured Americans and over 8.5 million of them children.

Too many Americans have inadequate access to services—this is a problem that extends beyond insurance coverage. Other major obstacles to care include language barriers, impaired health care literacy, and deficient cultural competency.

(Links below will take you off the AMA Web site. The AMA is not responsible for the content of other Web sites.)

Background information

• To learn more about the uninsured, check out the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Cover the Uninsured Week Web site, and especially their issues guide, a great introduction to who the uninsured are, how Americans obtain their insurance, and an overview of several proposed solutions.
• Are you writing letters about the issue of the uninsured to your Members of Congress or other elected officials? The AMA-MSS has put together some short paragraphs and statements (PDF, 67KB) regarding different aspects of this issue and potential solutions. These "talking points" are intended to be options that can be incorporated into your letter or communication. Please feel free to pick and choose from among these items to make your individual letter more personal.
• The National Health Policy Forum is a great source for nonpartisan health-related information. They have a section on "The Basics," where you can learn about Medicare, Medicaid, tax credits, the Medicare prescription drug plan, and more. Check out their links page for a thorough listing of players in the health policy arena.
• Great for the beginner – the kaiserEDU site. Visit the reference libraries for basic information on Medicare, Medicaid, quality of care, the uninsured, and federalism/role of states in health policy. Check out the issue modules area to learn about specific topics like the Medicare prescription drug benefit plan. The tutorials provide multimedia presentations to introduce the Medicare prescription drug benefit and the uninsured.
• Want the academic perspective? Duke University has compiled a tremendous list of resources on health policy at their Health Policy Gateway. Go here for great links pertaining to the U.S. Government.
• The Kaiser Family Foundation is a private organization promoting research on the major health issues facing our nation. On their site, you can easily get information on U.S. and international health issues.
• The Kaiser Network is a one stop resource for up-to-date health policy news. They provide web casts, daily email news lists, and have summaries of Election 2004 coverage. In addition, they have archived 65 years of polls related to health issues!
  
• To review the finances of health insurance, see the August 2003 issue of the AMA Health Care Financial Trends report. In addition, the June 2004 issue discusses how America spends health care dollars.
• The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has relaunched a Web-based resource tool, Protecting America's Uninsured, to demonstrate the variety of programs and services available to uninsured patients through the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals.
• Covering Kids and Families, initiated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, supports and encourages the organization of thousands of activities, including health and enrollment fairs, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to encourage parents to seek information about enrolling their eligible children in Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

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