We’ve heard about the health care challenges of Americans from Maine to Arizona, Washington to Florida, and just about every state in between as we’ve traveled the country this summer. Now we’re bringing these stories to the conventions to find out: what do those gathered in Denver this week and St. Paul next week think of these problems?

We kicked it off by visiting with delegates from Montana, posing a question to them based on the story we heard from Jeff in Billings, MT. A small business owner, Jeff shells out hundreds of dollars every month in premiums for his family’s health care. And what does he have to show for it? An ever-increasing deductible that now tops out at $16,000.

Like Jeff, many people we talked to this summer buy insurance but consider it ‘catastrophic coverage’ – merely protection in case of cancer or getting hit by a bus, the two grim examples everyone seems to use. But day-to-day coverage? Preventative care? ‘Small’ problems that can be toughed out? No way. The out of pocket costs are just too high.

All of that money sunk into paying for health insurance they can’t afford to use. We wanted to know what the conventioneers from Big Sky country thought about this.

Some told us that having out of pocket costs that high was like not having insurance at all. Others responded that small business owners are bearing the brunt of a health care system that’s overpriced and dysfunctional. Many tied in the problems rural people have even getting access to care, especially since many of them are small business owners themselves who struggle to buy individual health insurance. All too often, they just go without.

Several delegates chimed in with their own experiences. One, a former small business owner, paid $3000 a month for health insurance for him and his assistant, which didn’t even cover his family. Part of the reason he abandoned the business and took a job with his local county was for the health benefits, so they would all be covered. Another was indignant as she told us she currently pays $1000 a month for her premiums.

While many of the delegates we talked to spoke passionately about health care needs of others that are going unmet, these were clearly more than abstract conversations about policy and politics. It was clear that many of the delegates and others here in Denver for the convention are going through the same health care struggles as the folks we have met this summer all around the country on the Cover America Tour.

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comments (5)

Comments

1 Posted by Grace McKay at 08/28/08 04:51 PM

Help you American counterparts get the insurance
and medical help they all deserve. We have
worked endlessly for this, so now do the right
thing.

2 Posted by Diane Orlowski at 08/28/08 09:59 PM

The health care issue is certainly challenging. As a small business owner, I am aware of the high, and ever increasing costs. I've been following the issue since the 1980's. While I don't have a solution, I know that a government sponsored system is NOT the answer. One needs only to look at the medicare & medicaid systems. Also, within two years of its inception, the Massachusetts plan is predicting financial problems and increased taxes & penalties for businesses. This will negatively impact small business owners and their employees. Not until the government can make our Medicare & medicaid systems work effectively (for the people it's meant to serve and the medical providers) and efficiently (from a cost perspective) will I consider another government-run health program. Thank-you, Diane O.

3 Posted by at 08/28/08 10:56 PM

HEALTH CARE SHOULD BE NO. 1 ON THE LIST OF THINGS AMERICIANS NEED. WE HAVE BEEN PROMISED FOR YEARS TO GET AFORDABLE HEALTH CARE WHEN WILL SOMEONE DO IT???? WE ARE SENIORS WHO HAD TO RUN UP BIG CHARGE CARDS TO PAY FOR HEALTH COVERAGE BEFORE AND AFTER MEDICARE. I AM STILL NOT OLD ENOUGH FOR MEDICARE, NO ONE TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE EXPENSE TO PAY FOR ONE SPOUSE AT THE OTHERS EXPENSE. ANYTHING TO PAY FOR HEALTH INS. AND CO-PAYS AND SUCH SHOULD BE DEDUCTED FROM INCOME SO THE OTHER SPOUSE QUALIFIES FOR LOWER PREMIUM HEALTH INS. FUNNY HOW WE ARE COUNTED AS A FAMILY TILL WE WANT HEALTH CARE THEN WE ARE SEPERATE SOMETHING WRONG HERE.

4 Posted by Ed Alford at 08/29/08 11:26 PM

I wonder how many people are out there like me who can't get health care insurance and aren't old enough for Medicare. It's ludicrous how our law makers treat their constituants like second class citizens and then expects these same citizens to vote for them.

5 Posted by T. Brunkow at 08/31/08 04:27 AM

I too, am worried about healthcare costs. I think a major cost factor in the healthcare system that is shared by all is the use of emergency rooms by illegal immigrants. By law no one can turn away requests for healthcare at these facilities; therefore they can be used for primary care by illegals. This is a very large dollar figure as e-room care is much more expensive than clinics. This must be addressed as part of any solution.

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