Study Refutes Ideas on Health Coverage

Nearly half the nation’s adults who lack health insurance have trouble obtaining or paying for medical care and suffer health or financial problems as a result, according to a study in today’s Journal of the American Medical Assn. The finding refutes the widespread notion that the uninsured get adequate health care at public expense, said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation. The study found that 37 million adults had no health insurance at the time of the survey or in the preceding year, and 20 million of the uninsured had trouble getting care when needed or paying for it. Of those, 85% said they suffered “serious” health or financial problems.