- Cost blocks access to medical care for 1 in 4, study says, By Marni Jameson, May 8, 2012, Orlando Sentinel: “The number of Floridians who have gone without medical care they needed because they couldn’t afford it has increased to 1 in 4 over the past decade, according to a study released today. That 9.2 percent increase reflects a national trend, said the report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a nonprofit based in Princeton, N.J., that aims to improve America’s health. While Americans without health insurance experienced cost as an obstacle to medical care more often, even those with insurance saw their doctors less, too, the report said. Florida – where 25.1 percent of residents said they did not have their medical needs met because of cost – ranked third worst in the nation for that category, following closely behind Mississippi and Texas…”
- Healthcare access to erode if law struck down: study, By David Morgan, May 7, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “Most Americans have seen a decade-long erosion in access to medical services that is likely to continue if President Barack Obama’s healthcare law is struck down by the Supreme Court or repealed in Congress, a study released on Monday shows. The study, one of a series on the fractured state of the $2.6 trillion U.S. healthcare system published in the May issue of the journal Health Affairs, says access to health care deteriorated for U.S. adults aged 19 to 64 between 2000 and 2010, even among those with private health insurance. The age group represents about 195 million people, according to U.S. Census data, and has been targeted for expanded health coverage under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty