There’s a new report from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that looks into what the costs to each state would be in case Congress fails to enact health care reform. The results for North Carolina are sobering, and highlight more than ever the financial necessity of quick reform (never mind the moral issue of being the only advanced country to not offer its citizens universal health care). The study uses projections for three scenarios: worst case, intermediate, and best case. The bad news is that every scenario is a calamity.
In the best case scenario, Medicaid and children’s health insurance spending will rise from $8.6 billion to $14.6 billion in 2019. In the worst case, spending will hit $18.5 billion in 2019. The number of uninsured will increase from 1.7 million in 2009 to 2.4 million in 2019 in the worst case, and 2 million in the best case. You can access the Urban Institute study here, which offers a link to a PDF of the full report.
This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 6, 2009.
As usual, Frank your hatred preceeds you.
Let me remind you, there were no insurance companies when the constitution was written.
We do have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Health insurance companies are currently deciding who lives, and how much life costs. We, the people, need to be liberated from that tyrany. It’s a repressive situation that doesn’t make anyone happy.
The Republican Party does not care about your health, the insurance costs, or the number of people who die from lack of health care. The only thing they care about is undermining the Democrats.
People who cannot see past party lines are either unable to understand the difference between optional public health insurance and government run health care, or they just don’t care about the lies that are being told about health care as they “fight the Democrats”.
The spectacle is disgusting to watch. I would make some arguments in favor of the health care bills, but the arguments have already been made by many knowledgeable people and a frightening number of people just prefer to believe the lies.