In addition to surveying everyday Americans, this poll “examined sick Americans’ experiences with and perceptions of the costs and quality of medical care over the last year. ‘Sick Americans’ (27% of adults surveyed) are defined as those who said they had a serious illness, medical condition, injury, or disability requiring a lot of medical care or who had been hospitalized overnight in the past 12 months.”  Of the 1,508 adults randomly surveyed, nearly three-quarters consider healthcare costs to be a “very serious problem,” and about half consider the quality of healthcare a serious problem as well.

Of those polled who fell into the “sick Americans” category, one in six could not get the medical care they needed for the following reasons:

• Could not afford medical care: 52%
• Insurance would not cover: 24%

We have the most expensive healthcare, per capita, in the world, yet not everyone can get the care they need when they need it. Just what is it we are paying for, then?

Have you been hospitalized or had a serious illness, medical condition, injury, or disability requiring a lot of medical care in the last 12 months? If so, could you afford the care you needed? If not, why not? Tell us!

The program will begin in the spring semester after a newly-formed advisory committee spends six months planning what will best benefit students to learn. Once it begins, most, if not all, of their classes will include subject-relevant information they need to know about access to low cost health care, disease prevention, health insurance and more.

If successful, this will have a cost-saving benefit: it may reduce trips to the emergency room. Typically, those who cannot afford to see a physician wait until an illness or other medical condition has become so severe that they seek emergency care. With knowledge of how to find low-cost health care, fewer trips to the ER should be the result.

Having worked in public education, the number one complaint of students I’ve listened to say school is “boring,” which is usually translated as “not relevant to my life and experience.” Imagine the possibilities if a student has a family member or friend who faces a health  issue, and this student can help ameliorate the situation. If this program proves successful, it could serve as a model for other school districts around the country. And it might, just might, help reduce the rate at which healthcare costs are increasing, at least in this area. Good luck, Harrison High School!