How can the question even be asked "Could we survive as a country if every American has a right to health care?” This question was recently posed at a Benefit Forum & Expo by former Health Secretary Michael Leavitt.
Nearly all of the industrialized countries in the world provide health care to all their citizens and they are not just surviving, but thriving. The question should be, "Can we survive as a country if millions of Americans have no access to health care?" Judging by current statistics about the cost of for-profit health insurance, and the opinions of hundreds of thousands of physicians whose ability to practice medicine is being stunted by Insurance companies, the answer appears to be obvious.
As benefits professionals, we have an obligation to be wary of new legislation and to carefully consider the well-being of our respective companies in the process. But as human beings, we have a greater obligation to provide an equal shot at a healthy existence. If we can't find a way to offer health care without essentially guaranteeing death for all those left behind, then we have a great deal of learning to do on our own behalf before criticizing the details of proposed legislation.
Why is there still a debate on the cost of insuring every American when studies have shown that no matter how you calculate it, the cost would be significantly lower than what we are spending on war, for example. Regardless of your feelings about war, I'd be hard-pressed to find somebody who thought killing people half way across the world is MORE important than trying to keep our own people alive. Even if one were to hypothetically argue that they are equally important, then still, by providing equal funding to each program, the issue would be moot.
I'm looking at this from the perspective of a benefits/HR professional who deals with people every day that can barely afford their health insurance even after an 80% contribution from our company. That's completely unjust both to our company and the employee. Health Insurance is our single highest expense and our coverages are "average" at best.
We're getting to the point where if you want universal health care you are instantly labeled a "raging liberal" and if you don't believe in universal health care you are a "greedy conservative." What do we call people like me who just don't want to see their employees go bankrupt despite working tirelessly for our company?
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