Challenge of the Uninsured Dr. Don Young, Chief Operating Officer and Medical Director of HIAA, provided an overview to the Challenge of the Uninsured panel. Many factors lead to the problem of the uninsured, including affordability, an insufficient safety net for the poor and near poor, and inconsistent tax policies. Healthcare costs and premiums are on the rise, especially for pharmaceutical expenditures. Medicaid is declining among the poor, thus increasing the amount of uninsured. We need to lower costs, decrease mandates, provide broader care, and improve the public health system in general.
Cost effects the public and private market, as well as employers footing the health insurance bill.
A viable solution must incorporate both the government and the private sector. While pushing recipients off Welfare, these individuals typically move into low-paying jobs. The problem comes, then, when businesses are not picking up the health insurance tab. One problem with the CHIP program and Medicaid involves a simple lack of signing people up for the coverage it s out there, people just don t know about it. In addition, language barriers, rural distance, and an abundance of paperwork thwart success with these programs.