Wanted: Universal Health Insurance

If you’ve ever been laid off, you know what’s coming: first, numbness and shock, then hurt and betrayal that your hard work has amounted to nothing. Then comes the real problem: paying the family’s bills, especially for health care.

In 2007, more than 45 million Americans were without health insurance. Now that the recession has hit, more people are uninsured. Millions of parents are waiting anxiously to see if they’ll able to afford doctor visits for their families under President-elect Barrack Obama’s promised health care reforms.

Even for those with jobs that offer insurance benefits, affording health care is a daily struggle. In North Carolina, family health care premiums rose an estimated 5.3 times faster than earnings for North Carolina’s workers from 2000 to 2007, according to a report from Families USA, a nonprofit that promotes high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans. In that eight-year period, family health care premiums rose by 74.7 percent, while median earnings rose by only 14 percent. For family health coverage provided through the workplace in North Carolina, annual health insurance premiums in the 2000-2007 period rose from $6,649 to $11,618—an increase of $4,969, according to the report.

I used to hear people arguing that if we adopt universal health care coverage for every citizen, the quality of health care will suffer. I don’t hear that cry so much now that health care is out of the reach of so many. In 2007, health care spending across the nation grew by 6.1 percent to $2.2 trillion, translating into $7,421 per person for the year, according to the Associated Press.

We don’t have much to lose and everything to gain by trying to ensure that healthcare becomes a national benefit for every American, just like a free public education. Educated and healthy: that’s a great start for everyone. Then finding a job might seem less challenging.