Group organizes to change U.S. health care system

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Michael Sledge, a resident of Red Feather Lakes, had a bout with throat cancer five years ago. At the time he had excellent health insurance through his employer, the city of Loveland, which covered about $200,000 in medical costs.

The treatments "saved my life," he said.

In 2005, however, Sledge was laid off from a different job and lost his health insurance coverage. "I hold my breath and worry about what would happen if the cancer reoccurs," he said. "It would bankrupt me."

Sledge is one of 46 million people nationwide who have no health insurance. In Colorado, 700,000 people or about 16 percent of the population lack health insurance. Increasingly, small business owners cannot afford to provide health insurance for their employees, and large corporations are finding it difficult to be competitive with other countries, partly because of the cost of health benefits.

These concerns have led to the formation of a state group dedicated to fighting for a change in America's health care system. Health Care for All Colorado formed in 2001, and the northern Colorado chapter of HCAC organized last fall. HCAC is pushing for a national health insurance system that would provide high-quality, cost-effective care to all citizens regardless of employment, income or health status.

HCAC believes the best way to finance that care is through a national, single-payer health insurance system. Rose Lew, chair of the northern Colorado steering committee, pointed out that every other industrialized country in the world has national health insurance for its citizens.

HCAC is concerned about the high number of uninsured in the United States, and the organization also points to other deficiencies in the system. More than half of all bankruptcies in the nation are related to medical debt and illness. The United States spends nearly twice as much per capita on health care as other Western countries, yet this country is ranked 37th by the World Health Organization in criteria such as infant and maternal deaths, immunization and life expectancy.

Lew noted that HCAC is just one of many organizations around the country working to change the nation's health care system. The local group has hosted three informational meetings since last October, and it will hold a citizen hearing later this year to provide people a chance to speak out about problems with the current health care system.

'Single-payer' explained

The national health care system espoused by HCAC would be financed by a single-payer plan, and the system could be organized in many different ways. One possibility was proposed recently in Congress as HR 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act. This legislation, also known as "Expanded and Improved Medicare for All," calls for a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system paid for by a single entity, the federal government.

The program, which would be paid for with taxes, would cover all medically necessary services, with no co-pays or deductibles. Patients would have their choice of physicians and other providers. According to HCAC, about 95 percent of Americans would pay less under a single-payer system than they do now, with all health care costs, premiums and taxes taken into account.

Elinor Christiansen, current president of HCAC, is one of several doctors who helped draft HR 676.

Plans for Colorado

HCAC's northern Colorado chapter is now working to build grassroots support for achieving health care for all. Projects include education, outreach to the medical community and coalition building with other organizations concerned about the issue.

"A lot of people have been really concerned about this issue for a long time," said Lew, "but they felt they couldn't do anything individually."

Eventually, HCAC hopes that public support will become so strong that politicians can't ignore it. "An organized, informed public is essential to force political change," Lew said.

HCAC also plans to lobby the Colorado legislature this year to pass a resolution in support of a national single-payer health insurance plan. In addition, State Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, said he will introduce a bill to move the state toward universal health care.

Public health impact

Public health officials in Larimer County are also very interested in the issue. Carol Plock, executive director of the Health District of Northern Larimer County, said 23,000 people in the county, or about 13 percent, are uninsured, and the number of employers providing health insurance is declining. The impact of the uninsured on public health is huge, Plock said. Uninsured people are more likely to delay preventative care, to skip medications and to be diagnosed at a late stage of cancer, she pointed out.

Many public health departments are drawn into providing direct clinical care to uninsured people, and that diverts funds from their primary mission, protecting the public from threats such as whooping cough, tuberculosis and influenza, not to mention the possibility of bird flu.

Besides Lew, others who have served on the HCAC northern Colorado steering committee include Stephanie Larman, Mary Alice McComb, Carol Smith, Carolyn Taylor, Dolores Williams and Linda Mahan. The local League of Women Voters is also actively working on the issue of health care for all. For more information about HCAC, people may contact Lew at 224-0618.