By Richard Kirsch
National Campaign Director of Health Care for America Now
Every 30 seconds, a hard-working American declares bankruptcy because he or she can't pay medical bills. More than 75 percent of the time, that person has health insurance.
It's no surprise that the majority of all bankruptcies in America today are due to health care costs. Health insurance premiums have risen more than 1,000 percent since the insurance industry promised they would take care of us after they killed health care reform in 1993. Our wages, meanwhile, have only risen a small fraction of that, putting an impossible squeeze on working families everywhere.
Business has been feeling the pinch, as well. Health care costs threaten to overwhelm profits, and as a result, some businesses have decided to drop or scale back health care benefits, leaving employees at the mercy of insurance companies on the individual market. Health care benefits have become key sticking points in negotiations between unions and business.
It's not hard to see that these rising health care costs are unsustainable and threaten to bring down not only our federal budget or individual families, but also our entire economy. As President Obama says, we must bring down this nation's health care costs, and that means we must reform our health care system. We cannot wait.
Thankfully, we have a historic opportunity to bring down these costs this year. It's not only President Obama who is on board for real health care reform. All five committees in Congress that work on health care are right now joining together to write health reform bills. And 194 members of Congress have signed on with principles for real reform. We all agree on the way to reform our health care system and lower costs for everyone in America:
Choice: We will all have the choice to keep the health insurance plan (and doctor) we have if we want, or choose a public health insurance option if we want. This protects us from being at the mercy of private insurance, as we have been for so long, and forces private insurance to compete, driving down costs for everyone.
Regulation: All insurance plans will be regulated, so they can no longer deny care for pre-existing conditions or engage in other bad practices, to make sure coverage is available to everyone. Insurance plans also will be required to offer a standard, comprehensive level of benefit to make sure we are getting what we pay for when we purchase health insurance.
Affordability: Government, business and individuals will share responsibility for providing health insurance. Individuals will contribute based on their ability to pay, ensuring that insurance is affordable for all.
Equality: Provisions are needed to ensure that all of our communities, especially underserved communities, have equal access to health care that meets their needs.
On June 25, thousands of people will come to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress for these principles. Health Care for America Now, a coalition of more than 1,000 unions, community organizations, member groups and grassroots organizations, will be organizing the lobby day. You can join us at www.healthcare09.org.
Now is the time to pass these reforms, to give all of us the care we need and to bring down costs so health care doesn't overwhelm our personal bank accounts or our entire economy.
Richard Kirsch is National Campaign Director of Health Care for America Now! and has been working for grassroots health reform for more than 20 years.
