Consider This...

August 11, 2006

If you think decent health care should only be enjoyed by society’s wealthiest individuals, then you had to be thrilled by the failure of one particular bill this past legislative session.

The N.C. Senate refused even to consider a bill that would have set up a high-risk health insurance pool to help cover 9,000 chronically ill state residents. The House had passed the bill with a huge, bipartisan majority.

It’s not like the bill was all that radical: the state would still have required eligible residents to kick in more than $5,000 in annual premiums. That’s hardly a free ride, but it’s vital when premiums for the chronically ill can top $20,000 annually (and that’s just for those who have coverage).

Universal health coverage has to be the goal for all those who believe in justice and equal rights for all. But until that happens, incremental reforms such as this high-risk pool are needed to start chipping away at the growing number of people who cannot afford health insurance.

Next year, let’s hope the state Senate hears their voices louder than it does those of the lobbyists for the insurance industry.

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