Healthcare reform is an issue that is at once contentious, mammoth, and critical. B’nai B’rith International has long been an advocate for reforming the system that currently leaves nearly 46 million Americans under age 65 without health insurance. Some estimates find more than 10 percent of American children are not covered by health insurance. Millions of Americans who want to buy health insurance find themselves turned down or priced out of the market based on health status, gender, or even age. Those without health insurance don’t visit a doctor on a regular basis and miss out on important, and often less expensive, preventive care.With House and Senate committees considering disparate versions of healthcare reform, this is the closest to major changes to a very broken system that we have seen in more than 15 years.
“Though the issue is incredibly complex, significant progress is being made to accommodate a variety of interests and philosophies,” said B’nai B’rith Director of Senior Advocacy Rachel Goldberg, Ph.D. “Reforming our healthcare system is worth doing, and worth doing right. It is a testament to the great need for reform that different groups are working together toward the common goal of reforming a very broken system.”
B’nai B’rith is in favor of an affordable and fair healthcare system. It must include provisions for self-employed workers, who often cannot afford to buy private health insurance and therefore receive none. In too many cases, those people are just one medical issue away from economic catastrophe.
Any reform plan should also address prescription drugs – the high costs of which can cause some, even with insurance, to forgo needed medicines. And long-term care issues must also be considered. With our aging population, long-term care costs have the potential to overwhelm changes to the system.
“This is a critical juncture for healthcare reform,” said Mark Olshan, Ph.D., associate executive director of B’nai B’rith International. “But the American people seem more ready than ever for significant changes to a system that just isn’t working.”
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