Issue Page

The number of people in this country without health insurance is growing. And the likelihood of losing—or not being able to afford—good health care is striking fear in the hearts of many family breadwinners.

Costs are skyrocketing and squeezing working families. The administrative costs for private insurers are approximately four times the size as those for Medicare, Instead of providing coverage to all who need it, private insurers have a layer of bureaucracy to “cherry pick” their customers. They take on people who are less likely to get sick and deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

Instead of expanding coverage, conservatives blocked bipartisan legislation extending health care to 4 million uninsured children—twice. They lavished billions in subsidies on insurance companies, despite an astonishing 1,084% rise in insurance company profits during the last five years. And they continually sought to cut billions from Medicare and Medicaid.

The bold health care proposal authored by Yale University Professor Jacob Hacker, “Health Care For America,” has reshaped the health care debate. All Americans would have a choice between private insurance plans and a public insurance plan. Employers would have to either provide quality coverage or chip in a modest amount to fund the public plan. Quality standards would ensure that public and private plans compete on a level playing field—no more profits from “cherry picking” the young and healthy while turning away those with pre-existing conditions.