Some 41 million Americans have no health insurance coverage, according to the sponsors of the March 10-16 "Cover the Uninsured Week," which was co-chaired by former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter to raise awareness of the plight of the uninsured.

"Cover the Uninsured Week" hosted a series of events held at various Detroit area locations. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm addressed the opening session on March 10 at the University of Detroit-Mercy, where she was joined by a number of Michigan's U.S. senators, representatives and other community leaders.
Wayne State University took part in the weeklong activities as well. A team of students from WSU took first place in one of the events, a contest held during a teach-in at Macomb Community College March 11. Wayne State Professor of Gerontology Gail Jensen also participated as a workshop leader on public policy issues at the Macomb Community College event.

Three universities and two community colleges fielded teams that were assigned to examine case studies about uninsured persons and to make recommendations about how to help them receive the health services needed.

The Wayne State team, composed of students in nursing, pharmacy and medicine, took first place in the competition with teams from the University of Michigan and Oakland University, receiving a $1,000 cash prize. They donated half their winnings to Voice of Detroit Initiative (VODI), an organization providing health services to the uninsured that the team learned about in the course of their research.

The Wayne State student team included Paul Bozyk, Laurie Boore and Meysaa Merhi from the School of Medicine, Josie Piruzza of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Katherine Wetzonis of the College of Nursing.

The team presented a case study of "Harry and Louise." The team looked for solutions for the health problems of Harry, a 38-year-old Detroit African American male, his ex-wife, Louise, and their three children. Harry is described as one of the working uninsured, while Louise, a part-time nurse and mother of three, also goes without insurance. Harry suffers from hypertension, the kids lack immunizations and the family is not covered by insurance for prescriptions drugs, health assessments, inpatient and ambulatory care and other health needs.

The family members use the emergency room at the hospital for non-emergency visits, driving up the cost of health care.

The team assessed the services available to the couple through state, federal and public assistance programs. They concluded that Louise and the children could be covered under Medicaid and Healthy Kids programs, while some of Harry's needs for inpatient care and prescription drugs to control hypertension would remain unmet.

"As the expense of health care continues to drive up the cost of insurance, public policy should invest in ways to promote primary care access as a means of future cost containment," the team said. "Such efforts will allow the uninsured population to benefit from their right to health care."

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which provided much of the funding for "Cover the Uninsured Week," also released a survey to coincide with the week's events that indicated businesses would ask employees to bear more of the costs of health insurance in the coming years. The survey also indicated that 15 percent of the population is uninsured, and some 63 percent of Americans under 65 receive employer-sponsored health insurance.

A national event sponsored in part by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO, and other organizations, "Cover the Uninsured Week" also featured a health fair, a business roundtable and a prayer breakfast.

Detroit's United Way Community Services, Pfizer Corp. and other organizations joined the effort locally.

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