Health Care Reform

Do we buy groceries or our prescription medications this week? For many Americans this is a choice that must be made. America is long overdue a major reform in our health care system.
According to the 2009 Survey of Health Care Consumers, nearly 40 percent of Americans give our health care system a D or F. In the same survey 25 percent said that in the last year they skipped care when they were sick or injured; two in five of those consumers have done so because they simply could not afford it, were not covered by insurance or thought the costs were too high.
The issue of health care reform is not a new problem that has been brought on by the failing economy. There have been problems in this system for a very long time. One can only imagine what the full effects of our current economic situation will bring to this structure.
The Clinton administration promised reform and put Hillary at the helm of the issue. Much talk and attention was given to what could and should be done but we are eight years past the Clintons and deterioration has only increased. During the Bush years we also heard much about the need for change but again no significant changes were made.
It seems shameful that we waste time arguing whether Wall Street bankers should be able to keep the millions of dollars in bonuses they took from bail out money that came from tax payers that can’t afford to see a doctor when they are sick or injured. Something is gravely wrong here. Why has it become so easy to overlook such an important issue that affects so many Americans?
If the current Obama administration does not begin immediately addressing the health care crisis with more than words and promises we will soon be facing a health care disaster. It is time that we begin applying pressure to our elected officials. They must come to understand the significance of the situation and focus on bringing the reform before it is too late. Maybe our politicians should have to choose between groceries or health care.