There's some rather disconcerting news today regarding a jump in uninsured Americans.

According to MSNBC, a new Commonwealth Fund study found that the percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41 percent in 2005—up from 28 percent in 2001.

The study illustrates the dire situation for Middle America, as more employers are dropping health insurance coverage or offering plans that are too expensive. The article also points out that the percentage of adults earning less than $20,000 a year without insurance rose to 53 percent in 2004, up from 49 percent in 2001.

While this news is alarming on all fronts, I was especially disturbed to see the stats on preventative care among uninsured adults. According to the study:

• Cost prevented over 41 percent of uninsured adults from seeing a doctor, compared to just over 9 percent of uninsured adults with health coverage


• 51 percent of women without health insurance haven't had a mammogram in two years, compared to almost 23 percent of women with insurance


• Over 76 percent of uninsured men between 40 and 64 years of age haven't had a PSA test (which detects prostate cancer) in two years, compared to over 52 percent of their insured counterparts

Ugh. It's hard to believe that this is the reality of health coverage in this country, but on the other hand, I'm just as appalled by the people who think they're entitled to unnecessary medical treatment (multiple MRIs, for example) because they have Medicaid and the government is footing the bill.

There's got to be some kind of happy medium here. Should every state adapt the Massachusetts view on health care and make it mandatory? Should we adapt a more European style of health care? Obviously if someone had the cure-all, we'd have it by now...but seriously. It's 2006 and this is the United States. Am I the only who's disturbed by these new findings?