www.dailynews.com/theiropinion/ci_4863698
Google Google These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. Time for a change on health coverage BY ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Guest Columnist Article Last Updated: 12/18/2006 06:36:09 PM PST ONE of the most serious problems facing California and our nation is the large number of people without medical insurance. In California, 65 million people - more than any other state - have no medical insurance for all or part of the year. It is devastating to our economy and to working families, who pay a hidden tax to cover the costs. It's why I have made fixing our broken health care system my No. We know the sad facts about being uninsured, which are made even worse as health care costs rise faster than inflation. The uninsured are forced to go to emergency rooms for treatment because they have nowhere else to go. And when they are diagnosed with an illness, the disease is often more advanced. This is bad for them and bad for the rest of us because we all end up paying one way or another. The national Institute of Medicine estimates that the United States spends nearly $100 billion a year to provide health services to the uninsured - costs passed on to the rest of the population. For a family with insurance through an employer, the amount paid in 2006 increased 9 percent to $2,824, more than twice the rate of inflation, according to the California Advertisement HealthCare Foundation. This year the California HealthCare Foundation says 69 percent of insured employees with PPO coverage have a deductible of less than $500, down from 85 percent in 2000. And the percentage of employees with policies capping out-of-pocket expenses at $1,500 dropped from 44 percent in 2000 to 21 percent this year. And voters certainly didn't go to the polls and say, yes, we want to pay more - but virtually all of them are. Medical expenses, even for those with insurance, already are a leading cause of personal bankruptcy in this country. People who get seriously ill often lose their jobs, lose their insurance and then get destroyed financially. It is an all-too-familiar story and everyone knows who picks up those costs, too - you and me. We have the greatest quality of life and standard of living in the world, but if wages are eaten up by rising health care costs, people are shortchanged. If families live in mortal fear of being plunged into financial ruin because someone gets ill, peace of mind is a pipe dream. But with the same bipartisan cooperation we enjoyed on issues such as rebuilding California and protecting our environment, I know Democrats and Republicans can find common-sense solutions. This state Capitol is prepared for a very significant debate about how to fix our broken health care system. In July, I held a summit to start exploring new ideas, and my administration has been working to develop those ideas ever since. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has announced a plan this past week. Every idea is being debated: market-based solutions, employer mandates, individual mandates, new regulations, removing old regulations ... the people of this state deserve a debate on every issue. We will attack the problem from a variety of fronts and put everything on the table.
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