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Health Care Reform: The Cost of Doing Nothing (State-by-State Fact Sheets)

June 19, 2009

DPC Contact:

Jacqueline Garry Lampert

 

Soaring Health Care Costs are Unsustainable for Families and Individuals,
Businesses, and All Levels of Government 

Skyrocketing health care costs – including insurance premiums, co-payments and prescription drugs– are contributing to the current economic crisis, weighing heavily on American family, business, and government budgets.Inherited flaws in our health care system have led to higher health care costs, reduced access to care, and inconsistent quality of care throughout the United States.Too many Americans live in fear of the astronomical costs they will incur if they or their families experience an unexpected health care emergency. 

Eight years of inaction contributed to high health care costs and a rising number of uninsured.This has created economic challenges and risks for: 

• America’s working families and individuals, whose medical costs are consuming a larger portion of their wages and leading to unsustainable debt, and who pay a hidden tax to make up for the uninsured;
• America’s businesses (especially small businesses); and
• Americanstate and local governments struggling with the responsibility of providing health care coverage and fiscal constraints. 

Democrats know that, for our economy to truly recover and prosper, we must help middle-class families, businesses, and federal, state, and local governments cope with skyrocketing health care costs.That’s why we are committed to enacting health reform that addresses the health care cost crisis and ensures quality, affordable health care for all Americans. 

Health care reform is economic reform.If we are to restore our economy and secure our nation’s fiscal future, now is the time to make health care affordable for American families, business, and government at every level.The status quo is not working and is clearly not sustainable. 

Click below for a special report on the cost of doing nothing in your state.