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OPINIONS
Nick Casey: Now is the time for health care reform
Today, we as a nation stand at a crossroads in our history. As our country faces significant challenges from a crumbling financial system and rising energy costs, we have been given a rare opportunity to make a simple but monumental choice: do we confront our numerous problems head-on by enacting real substantive change, or do we continue with the easy, but failed, status quo?
None of the challenges facing us as a people and a nation is more serious than health care reform. American families and small businesses are being crushed by sky-rocketing health care costs, and we are losing the choices we value most. Forty-five million Americans don't have health insurance. In West Virginia, approximately 14 percent lack insurance. Families' benefits are eroding because they can't keep up with higher premiums, co-pays and deductibles. Seniors are choosing to cut their medications in half due to the high cost of prescription drugs. And parents are skipping a doctor's visit for their children because it's just too expensive.
To put it plainly: our nation's health care system is broken. And the problem is getting worse.
Without reform, health insurance premiums will hit new highs and will continue to erode American workers' and families' benefits-and even more Americans will be without coverage.
Thankfully, change has finally come to Washington in the form of a Democratic President and Congress willing to tackle the issue.
During the campaign, Barack Obama spoke passionately about the urgency of now -- stating that health care reform cannot wait any longer. For far too many families across our nation, the status quo is unacceptable.
In his commitment to reforming the health care system, President Obama has laid out his three principles of any health care reform plan: reducing rising health care costs for families, businesses and government; allowing all patients choice in their own coverage and their own doctor; and ensuring that quality, affordable health care is available to all Americans.
To do this, President Obama has promised to work in an open, inclusive, and transparent manner where all ideas are encouraged regardless of political stripes. Working with Members of Congress, hospitals, doctors, businesses and unions, the President is committed to making sure we finally enact comprehensive health care reform. Working together, we can reduce long-term growth of health insurance costs, guarantee choice of doctors, invest in prevention and wellness, end barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, and ensure every American receives the health care they need and deserve.
Make no mistake -- achieving comprehensive health care reform will not be easy. Controlling cost growth cannot just be a lofty goal, it must become a reality. We need reforms that reward prevention and wellness, that emphasize quality over quantity, and encourage patient involvement. These reforms are vital to our nation and West Virginia's economic stability.
We can act. We must act. The future of our nation and our people depends on it.
Nick Casey is the chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party.
