With health care spending continuing to skyrocket—an estimated $8,047 per person in 2009, expected to double by 2019—we cannot afford to let the national health care reform bill die. If we do, more and more families and individuals will go bankrupt, lose jobs, health, and, in some cases, their very lives.
My own family is just one among millions who are struggling to pay utility bills and put food on the table, because so much of our income goes towards paying health insurance and medical bills.
Thelife of one of my friends hangs in the balance, because the astronomically expensive medication that keeps her leukemia in remission will be unaffordable to her in five years, when she hits her lifetime insurance maximum. Another friend needs a major surgery but can’t afford the debt, and no one will insure her due to the pre-existing condition that necessitates the surgery.
In the face of these realities, it’s clear who the real “death panels” are: the health insurance CEOs who place stockholders’ interests above the lives and livelihoods of hardworking and disadvantaged people.
With so much at stake, we cannot afford to let this reform bill die in Congress. We need to put the pressure on our lawmakers now to put aside partisan squabbling and do the right thing for America.
Kate Fitzgerald
Grand Marais
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