Neil's Spotlight Health Care Reform: The Cost of Doing Nothing
May 21, 2009
The rising cost of healthcare is threatening everyone's pocketbooks-- those of individual families and businesses.
“When it comes to health care spending, we are on an unsustainable course that threatens the financial stability of families, businesses and government itself… getting health care costs under control is essential to reducing budget deficits, restoring fiscal discipline, and putting our economy on a path towards sustainable growth and shared prosperity.” – President Barack Obama, 5/11/09
Families can't wait
Since 2000, health insurance premiums have more than doubled, while wages have gone up by just 3 percent. More than half of American families have sacrificed health care due to rapidly increasing costs, including postponing or skipping treatments, relying on home remedies rather than visiting a doctor, and skipping dental care.
America faces many serious challenges, but the rising cost of health care represents one of the greatest economic threats to individuals and families, businesses large and small, and the nation’s long-term fiscal stability.
Rising costs also mean that many Americans –more than 45 million – are priced out of the system, but still receiving on services, including expensive emergency room care. Some of this cost is passed on to people who do have insurance adding hundreds of dollars per year to family premiums.
Health care reform will help families by lowering costs, ensuring access to quality care and preventative services, and allowing an easy transition for workers changing jobs.
Businesses can't wait
Rising costs are also crippling American businesses. Our companies spend more than twice as much on health care as their foreign counterparts, putting them at a severe disadvantage against competitors around the globe.
American manufacturers spend more per hour on health care than manufacturers in Canada, Japan and the UK combined.
America’s small businesses are struggling to pay for health care, with small business premiums rising 129% since 2000.
Health care reform means a level playing field for our employers, allowing them to hire more workers and compete in the global economy.
America can't wait
Spending on health care represents the fastest growing area of the American economy and our federal budget. Our nation currently spends $2.5 trillion a year on health care – 17.6 percent of our GDP – and spending on Medicare and Medicaid has grown to $422 billion and $255 billion, respectively.
Without any change, government projections estimate that by 2018, health care spending will rise to $4.4 trillion – more than one-fifth of the economy.
Health care reform will help stabilize long-term costs and reduce wasteful spending by creating a more rational and efficient insurance system.
The economy can't wait
In this economy, American businesses – small, medium and large – have been more hard-pressed to meet the costs of providing insurance benefits to their employees. In the next 4 years, premiums are expected to go up by another 20 percent.
With 61 percent of Americans receiving health insurance coverage through their employers, lost jobs mean lost health care. Every one percent increase in the unemployment rate translates to 2.4 million more people losing their employer-sponsored insurance.
Since the beginning of the recession, an estimated 4 million additional Americans have lost their health insurance and 2 million have become uninsured, with an average of 10,680 Americans losing their coverage every day.
Health care reform is necessary to strengthen the middle-class, and help businesses create jobs and be competitive so we can rebuild the economy and put our nation on sound financial footing far into the future.
