More and more middle-class people are actually foregoing costly health care in hopes that they won't need it, putting a strain on their employers, providers and those who do buy health insurance
When Alvin Wirthlin started his patent-application business in the Lucas a few years ago, this decision was about purchasing health insurance come down to a risk vs. cost analysis.
Wirthlin, who decided to take a risk instead to pay the cost of insurance, is not alone.
A growing number of small business owners and also full-time workers had made up about 80% of the America's 46 million people who are without health insurance. The number of people without such insurance is increased to 11.2% from 2001 to 2004.
Though California beats Texas in the absolute numbers, Texas ranks No. 1 for the highest percentage of its population that are lacking health coverage, with 25%, or one out of every four people, living without coverage. That translates into 4 million people without insurance in the Lone Star State, and there was an estimated 700,000 in Dallas County alone.
"That's not the kind of rate you want," said Joel Allison, president and CEO of Baylor Health Care System. "The uninsured is a major issue impacting health care."
Nationwide, 16% of the population is sadly uninsured, according to an October 2005 report from the Employee Benefits Research Institute.
That logic worked until Wirthlin suffered a recent back injury. So far, he's paid $90 for his office visit and $600 for an MRI, which was about 50% discount by the MRI provider when it learned Wirthlin was uninsured.
"I wish I could have known that there would have been a catastrophic event so I could plan for it," Wirthlin said. "It's just one of those risks you take. In our case the risk didn't work out, but we were lucky for four years."