Health insurance is a hot topic in political circles right now. Whether you consider yourself red or blue there is a lot at stake in the Supreme Court’s decision. Whatever their decision, it will resonate throughout this economy.
In our current economy the healthcare industry is the fastest sector of growth. Baby boomers are aging into what used to be the most expensive population for health care. An average of 10,000 baby boomers a day are reaching age 65. Heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, vascular disease, respiratory diseases like COPD, Cancer of all kinds, kidney disease, Alzheimer’s, Cirrhosis of the liver, Parkinson’s and Pneumonia are some of the top killers as well as some of the top long term conditions that require care over months and sometimes years. The costs add up. Because of the numbers marching into old age, the industry is scrambling to keep up. The amount of money for medical coverage that is going to be spent by this generation has never been seen before. The implications for the under insured and uninsured costs being covered by the cost of premiums of the few insured is staggering. It is only dwarfed by the even newer big spender on the block Generation Z or the iGenreation.
The iGeneration (called that because of their constant connection to the internet and devices) is poised to outpace the baby boomers for costs in medical care, a thing never seen before. Throughout the history of this nation each generation had the expectancy to live a longer healthier life due to advances in our medical technology, advances in food production, as well as a steady increase in standard of living. That is no longer true. iGeneration is riddled with childhood obesity, childhood type II Diabetes, increased rates of neurological disorders ranging from ADD, ADHD to Autism spectrum disorders, and showing increased rates of hypertension and heart related stress disorders . iGeneration is already competing with baby boomers for health insurance dollars.
The term cheap health insurance is a relative one. The iGeneration could stand to lose coverage when they age out of the system and coverage will no longer be available due to pre-existing conditions if Obama’s plan for health insurance is struck down by the supreme court. There is no such thing as cheap health insurance, but we can hope that our government will do the right thing and make health care affordable and comprehensive to take care of all of our needs.