The cost of doing nothing about health care

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

"some may ask how at this moment of economic challenge we can afford to invest in reforming our health-care system," obama said. "and i ask a different question. i ask how can we afford not to."

a recent report by the new america foundation's health-policy program estimates that the cost of doing nothing about health care, including poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured, is well above $200 billion a year and rising. that's enough to cover the uninsured and still have some left over for other public-health needs.

at http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_cost_of_doing_nothing_on_health_care

[Chico David, BSN, RN]

Good point. Now add to that the fact that we are already paying more for healthcare than any other country in the world and that dozens of countries paying far less manage to cover all their citizens. Put it all together and it points the way to where we need to go - national single-payer healthcare