RNC Chairman Steele Is Confused About The State Of Health Care In The U.S.

Steele Falsly States "It's Not A Question Of Access, It's Not A Question Of Quality"

RNC Chairman, Michael Steele: "You know the bottom line is that we have the best health care system in the world, there's no doubt about that. But this is a health care system that needs reform, and the reform that we've been trying to focus on is the cost side of this.  It's not a question of access, it's not a question of quality, it's the question of cost for a lot of Americans out there." [YouTube.com, accessed 6/30/09, emphasis added]

Not Every American Has Easy Access To Health Care

Common Diseases And Conditions Are Often Reasons For Coverage Denial.  The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reported, "in Minnesota, the most common reasons for denial are obesity, mental health conditions, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But there are less well-known reasons insurers consider on a case-by-case basis: chemical dependency, allergies that require costly injectable drugs, a previous C-section, previous use of infertility medicine or something as simple as being pregnant." [Star Tribune, 1/10/09]

Insurance Applicants Rejected Based On Height And Weight.  In an article offering advice on what to do when you lose your health care, the Washington Post reported: "'In the past four or five years, I've had people turned down just because of height and weight,' says Jerry Patt, an independent [health insurance] agent in Gaithersburg who has been in the business for more than 35 years. 'They could be having no medical problems whatsoever, but their build was not acceptable.'" [Washington Post, 6/22/08, emphasis added]

Americans Face Denials For Coverage From Insurance Companies Every Day.  As Diane Archer, director of the Health Care Project at Institute for America's Future recently argued in the New York Times: "As any doctor will tell you, when a private health insurance plan delays or denies a physician-recommended service, it is deciding who gets care and what kind of care people get." [New York Times, 5/8/09]

Many Americans Have No Recourse When They Are Denied Coverage Due To Lack Of Coverage Options

Only A Few Insurance Companies Dominate The Market, Leaving Americans With Limited Choices In Health Care. According to the American Medical Association, 94 percent of United States health care markets are considered highly concentrated, meaning that one company or a small group of companies control a great deal of the market. [American Medical Association, "Competition in Health Insurance," 2008 Update]

Major Insurance Companies Pay For Access To Private Medical Information.  According to a Business Week report: "Most consumers and even many insurance agents are unaware that Humana, UnitedHealth Group, Aetna (AET), Blue Cross plans, and other insurance giants have ready access to applicants' prescription histories. These online reports, available in seconds from a pair of little-known intermediary companies at a cost of only about $15 per search, typically include voluminous information going back five years on dosage, refills, and possible medical conditions. The reports also provide a numerical score predicting what a person may cost an insurer in the future." [Business Week, 7/23/08, emphasis added]

Insurers Use The Data To Deny Coverage And To Charge Higher Premiums.  According to a Business Week report: "Two-thirds of all health insurers are using prescription data-not only to deny coverage to individuals and families but also to charge some customers higher premiums or exclude certain medical conditions from policies, according to agents and others in the industry. Some carriers are also using the data to charge small employers higher group rates." [Business Week, 7/23/08]

Americans Do Not Always Have The Best Quality Of Care

Physicians Primarily Serving Black Patients Reported Difficulty In Providing High-Quality Care For Their Patients.  In March 2008, the Commonwealth Fund published a report titled, Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook.  According to the report, "primary care physicians that primarily cared for black patients were more likely to report difficulty in providing high-quality care than physicians who primarily cared for white patients.  Specifically, these physicians reported they were less able to provide access to high-quality subspecialists, to high-quality diagnostic imaging, to nonemergency hospital admissions, and to high-quality ancillary services." [CommonwealthFund.org, accessed 2/12/09]

Minorities Do Not Receive The Same Hospital Care As Whites For Pneumonia And Heart Failure.  In March 2008, the Commonwealth Fund published a report titled, Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook.  According to the report, "minorities are also less likely than whites to receive all recommended inpatient hospital care for pneumonia and heart failure." [CommonwealthFund.org, accessed 2/12/09]

Black Patients Less Likely Than Whites To Receive Blood Testing For Diabetes.  According to the Dartmouth Atlas Project's Health Disparities report, "Blacks were less likely to receive annual hemoglobin A1c testing [for diabetes] than whites, but the differences between blacks and whites varied across states. The greatest gaps in testing rates were in Colorado (white rate = 84%; black rate = 66%) and Illinois (white rate = 84%; black rate = 70%)." [DartmouthAtlas.org, accessed 2/12/09, parentheses original]

Steele Is Correct About Americans Suffering From The High Cost Of Health Care

Many Americans Have Been Priced Out Of Health Care.  As Ezra Klein points out on his blog: "If you look at waiting times, you'll see that relatively few Americans wait more than four months for surgery, which helps folks claim that America doesn't ration care, and makes our system look pretty good on the waiting times metric. Here's what they don't tell you: When you look at who foregoes care, the international comparisons reverse themselves. About 23% of Americans report that they didn't receive care, or get a test due to cost. In Canada, that number is 5.5%." [Ezra Klein blog, The American Prospect, 12/5/08, emphasis added]

"Twenty Percent Of Americans Say They Have Delayed Or Postponed Medical Care, Mostly Doctor Visits, And Many Said Cost Was The Main Reason." According to MSNBC: "Twenty percent of Americans say they have delayed or postponed medical care, mostly doctor visits, and many said cost was the main reason, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters released on Monday." [MSNBC.com, 4/20/09]