The Uninsured Population is Disproportionately Higher in Miami-Dade County
The United States is the only developed country that does not provide Universal Healthcare to its inhabitants. Some citizens of the U.S. that are unable to afford the hundreds of monthly dollars that private insurance costs and do not fit the requirements for Obamacare, force the possibility of having to pay thousands of dollars just to seek treatment for an unexpected medical issue that can end their lives. Even having a baby in the United States can cost the parents $11,000 without insurance and $4,500 with insurance, and that is if the birth is uncomplicated. This country, in its obsession with upholding capitalism in every aspect of life, has put a price tag on human life.
In the United States, about 12 percent of the population aged 19–64 is uninsured, but in Miami-Dade County, the number of uninsured people is frighteningly higher; about 30 percent of Miami-Dade County residents in the same age group do not have insurance. In Florida, the number is about 19 percent.
Miami-Dade has a uniquely large Latin-American population, a population that is the most uninsured in the United States. According to Pfizer, 33 percent of the Hispanic population does not have health insurance, and the Hispanic population in Miami-Dade is 72 percent. So, it is easy to see why the uninsured population in Miami-Dade is disproportionately larger than in the rest of the country, and even the rest of the state.
Because the minority populations in this country are more likely to be lower income, the lack of universal healthcare provided by this country feels targeted. Progressives in Congress have been trying for years to pass legislation supporting Medicare for All, but, because progressives make up only a small portion of members of the House and the Senate, they have been mostly unsuccessful. Unfortunately, only 74 of 435 members of the House of Representatives are in the Medicare for All caucus.
In addition, most U.S. residents support Medicare for All, even if they are not being accurately represented in Congress. Fifty-five percent of all voters support Medicare for All, and 68 percent of voters support at least a public option for those that are unable to afford private insurance. If the people of the U.S. were accurately represented in our government, then Medicare for All would’ve been passed and the United States would have joined the majority of the world in providing their citizens healthcare.
Our government needs to deprioritize profit and money and reprioritize the health and wellbeing of its citizens. If life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are our unalienable rights, then why is healthcare not? The lack of universal healthcare in this country is a direct contradiction to our rights outlined in the constitution almost four hundred years ago, and unfortunately, those most affected are people of color and low-income people.
