We Need a Public Option to Control Costs
A new report on healthcare costs released last week is underscoring the urgency to reform healthcare. According to the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, employers’ healthcare costs will increase by 9 percent next year. That means more Pennsylvania businesses struggling to compete and stay viable. And it means even higher premiums, deductibles, and co-pays for working families.
The report confirms what we already know: that even Americans with good insurance are paying more out of pocket for the care they need. The current economy makes the healthcare crisis even more dire with each new dawn. Every day 14,000 more Americans lose their insurance coverage, and last year, more than half of Americans postponed medical care or skipped their medications because they couldn’t afford it.
Most of us don’t have an adequate choice when it comes to health insurance. In Pennsylvania, just three insurers control 75% of the market. Without competition, insurers get to compete for the healthiest subscribers instead of competing with each other for our business. This has become a burden on families and businesses with premiums that grew 6.4 times faster than wages from 2000 to 2007.
This can’t be allowed to continue. Tell your legislators you want health care reform this year.
A public insurance plan is the only way to bring competition back to the health insurance market, drive down costs and assure everyone has access to quality, affordable coverage. A public health insurance option will remove a significant burden on small businesses so they can help get our economy going again.
Of course, the Chamber of Commerce and other powerful corporate lobbyists have already gathered in Washington to fight any efforts of meaningful healthcare reform. We need to fight back.
