Making headway on health care

The economy is on everyone's minds these days. The faltering housing market has the spotlight, but the soaring cost of health care is another burden that American families and small businesses can barely shoulder. Members of the Cedars Unitarian Universalist Church on Bainbridge Island (near Seattle) met earlier this month to launch a round of study circles on “The Moral Imperative of Health Care."

Organizer Barbara Clarke, who formerly worked in managed care, told the Bainbridge Island Review that the debate has started moving beyond whether health care is a right or a privilege. “When you see that women with breast cancer and no insurance have a 40 percent less chance of surviving, that’s moral," she said. "When you see a mother who can’t take her children to the doctor, that’s moral.”

Meanwhile, syndicated columnist David Sirota writes about how the state legislatures in Washington and Wisconsin are considering legislation to extend health care to every citizen in those states. "The plan is simple," he says. "Employers and employees pay a modest payroll tax in exchange for full medical benefits, with no premiums. Patients never lose coverage and pick the doctors they prefer. And for the spendthrifts, here's the best part: According to an analysis of the Wisconsin proposal by the nonpartisan Lewin Group, the plan would save middle-class families an annual average of $750 on their existing health care bills. In all, the state would save almost $14 billion over the next decade." Read the whole column here.

Comments

[Amy Malick]

Last night I caught a "big picture" segment on The News Hour on PBS about the state of health care. Judy Woodruff interviewed a diverse panel of people from New Jersey about their concerns (click on my name to see the report). While the people were from all points on the political spectrum, they shared concern about their poor access to affordable health care. I was struck by how inadequate this kind of forum is to bring people together on solutions - and how hungry everyone is for a solution. It's good to read here that people are beginning to approach this problem from a community level, like in Bainbridge Island, to a policy level.

[Julie in Boise]

Amy, you're right. I'm sure The News Hour segment piece was designed to raise awareness more than create solutions. But at this point, I'm not sure we need more awareness of the health care crisis so much as we need forward movement on finding solutions. The work on Bainbridge Island and in the state legislatures are definitely steps in the right direction.

As John Edwards leaves the presidential race, I'm reminded of something he said in his campaign announcement in December 2006: We can't wait until January 2009 to start solving our problems.