Published: April 28, 2008 09:46 am      

We must find a way to cover the uninsured

The plight of the uninsured has reached a crisis point in our country.

An estimated 47 million are uninsured, of those nearly 9 million children, and a greater amount underinsured.

More than 8 out of 10 are in working families. These are our friends, neighbors and colleagues — forced to gamble every day that they won’t get sick or injured.

We must find a way to provide access and a cost effective system of care for all.

More than ever before, our hospital emergency rooms throughout the nation are becoming homes for uninsured adults and children so severely ill they have no place to turn. This has to stop.

And yet we can reduce — perhaps even eliminate — preventable visits by ensuring people can manage health situations through affordable, quality health care coverage for every person living in the U.S.

Mercy Medical Center – Clinton, along with other Catholic sponsored health care organizations, is calling for systemic healthcare reform to achieve “coverage and access for all” in a cost-effective system of care.

We can no longer let arguments about cost divert us from reform. We must find a way for all.

The time for change is now. Reaching the goal of affordable and stable health care will require changes in public policy. We must demand that Congress find a way to health care reform by sponsoring the Healthy Americans Act and other reform legislation.

While Congress reauthorized SCHIP for uninsured children, we must demand they expand it and, at the same time, reject the Administration’s Medicaid regulatory cuts.

But while Mercy – Clinton has a history of serving those in our communities who need us most, our government policy makers have been slow to take care of those lacking access to quality health care services.

We are compelled by our mission to do this work; it is simply who we are. We provide substantial charity care through emergency and other hospital departments.

We also go beyond charity care offering free or discounted programs to uninsured programs.

It is time to find a way to transform our nation’s health care system. Living without health insurance is a risk no one should have to take.

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Donna Oliver is president/CEO of Mercy Medical Center – Clinton.