Why we Need Health Care Reform

I wrote to my congressman in support of the Health Care Reform bill. In response he sent a letter with some startling statistics. Congressman Oberstar writes:

It is imperative that health insurance reform legislation be enacted to help Americans afford their health care by lowering the cost of premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, and to relieve the burden on small businesses across the country. The cost of inaction is too great. Since 2000, employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have more than doubled, representing a growth rate three times faster than cumulative wage increases. The average cost of an employer-based family health insurance policy in 2009 was $13,375, nearly the annual earnings of a full-time minimum wage job. Without reform the average family premium is projected to be $23,842 in 2020. Many families already pay more than $1,000 in additional premium costs each year to compensate for those who do not have insurance. Further bolstering the need for reform, 60 percent of personal bankruptcies were related to medical costs in 2007.

We need health insurance reform because American businesses are losing their ability to compete in the global marketplace due to rising health care costs. The burden is particularly heavy on small businesses. Since 2000, small business premiums have risen 129 percent. In 2008, 38 percent of small companies offered health coverage, compared with 41 percent in 2007 and 61 percent in 1993. On average, small businesses pay up to 18 percent more than large firms for the same health insurance policy and an employee of a small business is 50 percent more likely to lose job-based coverage than an employee of a large business.

I would like to see a public option but I recognize that that choice is just too radical for some people at this time. I am thankful that the government is doing something to reform our broken system and I look forward to continued reform and refinement of the system.