The Critical Need for Health Insurance Reform
Listed in: Other Domestic Policy, Fact Sheets
An estimated 47 million Americans are already without health insurance, and every day 14,000 more lose their coverage. In the last 10 years, premiums have doubled, out-of-pocket costs have increased by a third, and deductibles have continued to rise. The need for health insurance reform is imperative.
HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM IS URGENTLY NEEDED
Our current system is a “disgrace” and is a burden on our economy.
“The disgrace that is America’s health care system, with its millions of uninsured, runaway costs and arbitrary, profit-driven decision-making, has finally met its match in the disgrace that is America’s health care debate.”
- The Forward, Editorial, 8/12/09
“The cost of our health care is a threat to our economy. It’s an escalating burden on our families and businesses. It’s a ticking time bomb for the federal budget. And it is unsustainable for the United States of America”
- Obama’s speech to the American Medical Association, 6/15/09
QUALITY HEALTH INSURANCE OPTIONS FOR ALL
Every American must have access to affordable health insurance options and be able to make their own medical decisions with their medical providers.
“If you don’t have health insurance, you will finally have quality, affordable options once we pass reform. If you have health insurance, we will make sure that no insurance company or government bureaucrat gets between you and the care you need. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. You will not be waiting in any lines. This is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance. I don’t believe anyone should be in charge of your health care decisions but you and your doctor — not government bureaucrats, not insurance companies.”
- Obama’s op-ed in The New York Times, 8/15/09
HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM A PRIORITY FOR THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
The Jewish community supports health insurance reform to ensure affordable health insurance is available to all Americans.
“Our tradition teaches us to pursue justice. Yet it is not a just society when families are forced to choose between paying their mortgages or paying for prescription drugs. It is not a just society when small businesses must choose between being profitable or providing coverage to their employees. It is not a just society when people are denied health insurance because they have a pre-existing condition for which they need medical care. Equal access to safe and affordable health care is an essential social justice issue of our time.”
- Rabbis for Health Insurance Reform, 8/11/09
“[N]ow is the time for the Jewish community to act upon shared principles in health care…. It is a historic moment, and we believe the community should play a leading role in these endeavors.”
- Hadar Susskind, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and William C. Daroff, UJC/Jewish Federations of North America, 5/25/09
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Updated: September 9, 2009
