2 - The Michigan Daily -- Wednesday, October 23, 1996
NATION/WORLD
Study: Even insured can't pay bills
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Los Angeles Times
- WASHINGTON - Having health insurance is no
guarantee you'll automatically have access to medical
cae and won't be stuck with bills you can't pay.
And for people without insurance, the belief that in
erica no one is forced to go without needed med-
ical attention doesn't hold water.
Those are two of the findings of a new study
"e#leased yesterday by researchers at Harvard
Omversity and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
he study found that nearly 50 million Americans -
with and without health insurance - have problems
eiter getting medical care or paying their bills. And
36 million Americans experienced serious conse-
gqjences -- affecting their health, their families, their
>obs or economic well-being.
; tResearchers surveyed nearly 4,000 adults nation-
ide from February . through April 1995. To get
beyond the statistics, researchers said they conducted
iiidepth interviews with 1,234 people who had prob-
lems with medical access or finances.
"I have a lump in my breast. It makes you scared at
times knowing that something.serious could happen
and you're not covered," said one 36-year-old unin-
sured woman.
"My insurance told one of the doctors at the hos-
pital that they would not be paying and the doctor
turned the bill Over to a collection agency," said a 64-
,yar-old man. Other respondents talked about having
to choose between putting food on the table for their
children, fixing a leaky roof or paying an overdue
mpepical bill.
"The political debate about a crisis in insurance
and access to care may be over but for millions and
rassing questions and sometimes hostility await any-
one who approaches a medical office without insur-
ance or a checkbook to pay the
millions of people the crisis
continues," said Karen
Donelan, a Harvard
researcher and the study's
principal author.
Officials from Kaiser,
Harvard and the American
Medical Association said they
had no illusions that this
research alone would rekindle
a national debate over health
reform that they said politi-
cians have run from since the
1994 drubbing of President
Clinton's health plan. But,
they said, they hope at least
some of the myths about the
ability of the uninsured and
underinsured to get health
care might be debunked.
The study did report that
almost half the uninsured - 47
"The political
debate about a
Crisis in insurance
and access to care
may be over but
for millions ..the
crisis continues,"
- Karen Donelan
Harvard researcher
bill.
"What happens is pre-denial
by intimidation," Lundberg
said. The survey shows, he
said, that despite the AMA's
dictum to physicians that they
provide some free care, enough
doctors-are not doing so.
When asked the principal
reason they did not have health
insurance, 64 percent said it
was too expensive. Only 1 per-
cent said it was because they or
someone in their family had a
pre-existing medical condition
and were denied coverage.
That makes it clear, the
researchers said, that the
Kennedy-Kassebaum bill,
whose main feature is banning
Firestorms destroy homes in California
CARLSBAD, Calif. - Fleets of helicopters and airplanes roared through
Southern California canyons yesterday, dropping water on erratic, wind-blown
wildfires that have burned 92 houses and-seriously injured five firefighters.
Helter-skelter Santa Ana winds turned dry brush and oil-rich eucalyptus trees
into blowtorches, spreading flames across 30,000 acres. By yesterday afternoon,
the major fires were less than half contained and some flared up again as the devi
wind shifted and gusted up to 41 mph.
Four firefighters working a flareup in Malibu were seriously burned when their
truck stalled and flames roared over them'in Corral Canyon. "This is life threaten-
ing. These are very serious burns. We're looking at over 90 percent of their bod-
ies," said Glendale fire Marshal Dave Starr.
Another firefighter broke his neck in a traffic accident while rushing to a blaze,
and another man suffered burns over 45 percent of his body.
Thousands of people fled their homes, schools and businesses in four counties
Monday as flames exploded, propelled through the canyons by winds that gusted
as high as 71 mph.
percent - did not
have a problem with getting care or paying a bill the
previous year.I
Only a little more than half of the uninsured who
said they had problems getting care had actually tried
to get care. Of those who tried, three-quarters were
successful. Many, don't try, suggested Dr. George
Lundberg, editor of the Journal of the American
Medical Association, because they know that embar-
insurance companies from denying coverage because
of a pre-existing condition, will do little to decrease
the ranks of the estimated 43 million uninsured.
"If we're going to have some sensible debate about
what to do about this, we have to acknowledge that
the principal problem from the point of view of aver-
age people is they can't pay the full cost of the pre-
miums," said Robert Blendon, professsor of health
policy and political analysis at Harvard.
Canadian unions, General Motors break three-week strike
FBI to cooperate in
Ruby Ridge probe
WASHINGTON - Federal authori-
ties made a major advance in their
investigation of five suspended FBI
officials accused of covering up agency
actions in the 1992 siege at Ruby
Ridge, Idaho, as one of the five agreed
to provide information about the
involvement of his superiors, sources
close to the case said yesterday.
Word of the agreement emerged
shortly after prosecutors announced
that E. Michael Kahoe, former head of
the FBI's violent crimes unit, has been
accused in a criminal information with
obstruction of justice for allegedly con-
cealing facts from federal prosecutors.
Kahoe, 55, is prepared to plead guilty
and cooperate in a continuing investiga-
tion that could further implicate his
superiors, the sources said.
The group's ranking member, Larry
Potts, was formerly the bureau's deputy
director under FBI chief Louis Freeh.
Others suspended with pay last year
by Freeh were Potts' deputy, Danny
Coulson; Gale Richard Evans, a crime
unit chief at FBI headquarters, and
George Michael Baird, member of an
inspection team that investigated the
Ruby Ridge incident.
The long-running investigation; con-
ducted in Washington by Philadelphia
prosecutor Michael Stiles, has focused
on whether FBI officials lied "and
destroyed documents to cover up their
heavily criticized actions during the
siege.
Scanners sometimes*
give wrong price
WASHINGTON - Computer scan-
ners at grocery, department store and
drugstore checkout counters ring up the
wrong price about 5 percent of the time,
say federal inspectors who fanned out
to check stores nationwide.
But when errors occur, shoppers usu-
ally come out on top, the Federal Trad
Commission study released yesterdaJ
indicated.
Grocery stores, which pioneered
scanners more than two decades ago,
had the most accurate scanners, the
study found, while department stores
had the highest rate of error.
And researchers found the most
problems with the hundreds of items on
sale in stores because of frequent price
changes.
STRIKE.
PonInued from Page I
,ean Munger, GM Canada's chief negotiator,
said the tentative deal was good for the carmaker,
_wlich had pushed hard for cost-cutting provisions
4 new contract.
'"This is a good agreement and it fits our busi-
ness needs," Munger said,
Hlargrove said the agreement largely followed
the pattern of a pact signed earlier with Chrysler
anada in which the company agreed on limits to
_Otsourcing. lie said GM, during the talks,
reversed decisions to outsource 1,800 union jobs in
Qan ada.
,,M agreed to some limitations after winning the
,jijpion's acknowledgement that QM's competitive
needs differed from Chrysler's.
Hargrove said the union would go along with
Chrysler's plans to phase out or sell parts plants in
Windsor and Oshawa, Ontario, but it bargained for
financial protection for the 3,500 workers at the
plants.
Workers who want to leave would be offered a
buyout of roughly $31,000 in addition to any regu-
lar pension benefits they were due, he said.
Regarding wages, Hargrove said workers would
receive an increase of roughly 10 percent over the
three-year life of the contract, including cost-of-
living allowances.
"I am absolutely elated," Hargrove said. "I do
not believe this in any way inhibits General
Motors' ability to continue to build quality cars
and trucks.... But we're going to continue to fight
for our rights."
He said the settlement was "the first major chal-
lenge to the total and complete right of manage-
ment to do as it saw fit" on issues like outsourcing.
But Hargrove said even with a favorable deal in
place, union members understand there will be a
potential for job loss.
"We're simply making sure that General Motors
doesn't sell our jobs to the highest bidder," he said.
The strike, which began Oct. 2, is the longest by
the CAW since a 97-day walkout in 1970.
GM added 1,560 workers in the United States
and Mexico to its strike-related layoff list yester-
day, raising the total to 19,931.
Yesterday's layoffs resulted from partial shut-
downs of four Delphi Packard Electric Systems
plants in Mexico and three in Ohio.
ROL,.*
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She was born at U-M Hospital.
Able to spell U-M at a very early age.
Ingrid has a master's degree from U-M.
She is A former U-M sorority advisor.
Daughter Aiy is a U-M graduate.
Ingrid is currently serving as board member
of U-M Theatre Associates.
STA Travel is the world's largest
travel organization specializing
in low-cost travel for students.
Bosnian elections
delayed 2nd time
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Local elections for Bosnia were
delayed yesterday for a second time
because of political concerns raised by
the country's former warring factions.
The Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe announced the
postponement, which had been expect-
ed. and will push elections scheduled
for Nov. 23 into spring or summer. The
decision came after days of huddling
with representatives of Bosnia's Serb
republic and Muslim-Croat federation.
OSCE officials said they received few
assurances that a fair campaign could
proceed.
Mission chief Robert Frowick said
the OSCE reacted because all "parties
have indicated a need for additional
time."
Under the Dayton peace accord for
Bosnia, the municipal vote was to have
been held at the same time as elections
for national institutions. But the OSCE
ruled in August that, while the elections
for national institutions could go ahead
as planned on Sept. 14, electoral fraud
-particularly by the Bosnian Serbs _
had made it impossible to carry out t he
more-complex municipal polling o
time.
The OSCE's decision yesterday to
delay the vote a second time could
affect the future of thousands of NATO
peacekeeping troops, including about
15,000 Americans, sent here under the
Dayton pact.
Drug smuggling r
threatens Mexico
MEXICO CITY - Preside
Ernesto Zedillo said drug smuggling is
the biggest threat to Mexico's national
security, citing drug-related killings
across the country including assassina-
tions of seven federal law enforcement
officials in Tijuana.
"It's not just in Tijuana," Zedillo said
in an interview Monday. "They kill pe-
ple in Mexico (City), they kill people in
Guadalajara, they kill people in Sinaloa,
and they kill people in Tijuana."
- Compiled from Daily wire reports.
4. 26 years of cheering for "Maize and Blue"
from Section 19.
3. Mayor Sheldon hosts a late night talk show
(Ann Arbor City Council meetings).
2. MSA passed a resolution in 1994 commending
Mayor Ingrid Sheldon for being a "vocal
student advocate".
* : itt l ii ~tf< ir
" A Eiti I Pa.,st>
Hote Meni) (:uk
Aroun the Wor~uildij
" Travel 1~Insuance
" Packages.'forkwI8-39 yrs.
PSST Going somewhere else? STA Travel has great student airfares to destinations around the world.
1.
She's doing a great job as Mayor!
Paid for by the Ingrid Sheldon for Mayor Committee
Doug F. Ziesemer, Treasurer, 122 S. Main, Ann Arbor 48104
'a a.
rogram1 - :Health wi'ry( tee m an
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