Zaniya Project Findings: Health Care Access Not a Major Problem

In examining some of the information available on the Zaniya Project website, some interesting findings in a presentation on health care access.

The presentation reviewing South Dakota's uninsured found that

• 91.5% of South Dakotans have health insurance
• Regardless of insurance coverage, most had reasonable access to care
• 55.1% of survey respondents said obtaining health care while uninsured was "somewhat easy or very easy"
• 18.4% of respondents said they have not needed health care
• "This research suggests that persons are not being turned away when they need care."
• "While many South Dakotans would benefit from expanded healthcare coverage, it is not certain from this study that such an expansion would substantially alter access to healthcare when needed."

This tells me there is little need for major changes to our health care system, at least not the kind that would increase costs (taxes) to those who already are insured, and certainly not the kind that would socialize medicine.