Update: No $$ in the bank, no ga$ in the tank...

As a follow-up to my recent post about women forgoing health care because of financial issues (No money in the bank, no gas in the tank and no healthcare either, 12/17/08), I thought I'd point out a post from Women's Health News that covers the same issue, but is based on a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

PBS reported the survey's results, which indicated that more people have been postponing health care or treatment, not filling prescriptions and skipping appointments because of the costs.


Can we just gives props to the Women's National Health Resource Center for already covering this?! It's too bad Kaiser has billions more cash monies to pay for a huge survey and publicity.

Although, I was thinking that BOTH surveys have a pretty major reporting flaw in that participants are asked to report on their current feelings toward healthcare and their past feelings toward healthcare at the same time. It's been proven time and time again that your current inclinations towards a specific thing can greatly affect your past perceptions of that same thing... even when that thing is something as seemingly bias-resistant as seeking healthcare.

I would imagine that while not everyone is feeling the effects of the economic downturn, since we talk about it so damn much, it seems like it's worse than it currently is. Surely, it will get worse later, so are people really unable to pay for health care or are they unwilling?

And, in response to Kaiser's survey, was it really that much worse in October 2008 than it was in April 2008, a mere 7 months later? I don't know. I'm skeptical, but that's why I'm asking.

This isn't me being insensitive, because I pay for health insurance also. Sometimes PBS is just annoying to me... like how this story Even Insured Patients Struggle as Healthcare Costs Rise appears in the special In-Depth Coverage section on "The Uninsured in America." Um, these people have insurance, and they're complaining about it? At least they have it, compared to the 25 million who are apparently underinsured in the USA.

Look, if you want to talk about healthcare in general, just put it all in a "Healthcare Issues" section. But don't throw everything healthcare related under "The Uninsured" because it's misleading.

There are strong arguments for all of these issues, but when you throw all this crap together and force it to be related (when it shouldn't be), it muddles the issues, nobody wins and everyone is annoyed. Most of all me.