Health Care Needs a Bailout

American Nurses Association

Opinion Editorial for CMA Customization

If our current health care system were a patient, we’d be wheeling it into the emergency room, shouting for help “CODE STAT!”Here in [name state], the number of uninsured continues to grow[cite # by state], the cost of care continues to rise, and the safety and quality of care often falls short of what our patients deserve.

Nurses see first-hand the human suffering resulting from our broken health care system.It is part of our job and our Code of Ethics to advocatefor the patient.That advocacy doesn’t stop at the bedside; with health reform before the U.S. Congress, our patient advocacy extends to our Representatives and Senators. Working together with our patients and the community we serve, it is time to send the message that we need health reform now!

Personal thoughts or experiences here, a personal or patient anecdote that exemplifies the flaws in the current system(difficulty getting care, patients denied care, patients without insurance or underinsured hit with high medical bills etc)

Reforming the health care system is such a huge undertaking; people don’t know where to begin.But we cannot let fear of the unknown keep us from engaging on this vital issue. We must turn our frustration and, yes, even anger into action.

It is clear that we have got to fix the rising costs of health care now. Currently, more than one-sixth of the U.S. gross national product-- $2.4 trillion -- goes toward health care annually. Federal, state and local governments paid for nearly half of that in 2007 (46.2 percent), up from 45.3 percent in 2003, and 37.6 percent in 1970. Those are our tax dollars. Getting these costs under control should be a priority.

In our own state alone, we’re paying [state ] for health care spending. That’s an ever-increasing share of valuable budget dollars that could be going toward our schools, law enforcement, improving infrastructure or any number of pressing priorities.

Our pocketbooks take an additional hit, when you add up the costs of insurance premiums, co-pays, and out-of-pocket (not paid for by insurance) expenses. The average cost of insurance premiums, for example, has increased at a rate three times faster than the cost of living in the past 10 years. And I’ll bet that if you get your insurance through your employer, you are paying an increasing portion of that cost.

So I do not understand when some argue against permitting the government to have a role in setting high quality standards in care, holdinginsurers’accountableand keeping deductibles low and benefits equitable.If competition in the free marketplace is supposed to be the best mechanism to reduce costs and improve care, why is our so-called system in such a mess? More of the same is not acceptable.

Some fear that giving government a role to play is somehow the next step to “socialized medicine.” But let’s face it: our poorly regulated marketplaceis not fair. It places at its center profits, rather than patients. And try negotiating with one of the big insurance companies and see how far you get. The inherent imbalance of knowledge and bargaining power heavily favors insurance companies over working families. The insurer’s thumb is on the scale, and consumers bear the cost.

It is only natural that many are concerned about the cost of reforming our health care system.But the cost of inaction in dollars and human suffering is too high to delay reform yet again. Simply put, the cost of inaction far outweighs the price of action. Our elected representatives must recognize that, in order to meet our nation’s health care needs, we must have a health care system that puts patients – not profits – first.

It is essential that lawmakers hear from you on this issue. You can be sure they are hearing from the insurance companies.

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