by AFT President Sandra Feldman
March, 2003

Our healthcare system
leaves millions unserved and
it’s a national shame.

Our country is facing a massive healthcare crisis. Millions of Americans don’t have access to medical treatment. While we’re second to none in medical expertise and technology, we’re way behind in making healthcare and health insurance affordable for working families.

One out of six Americans--44 million--has no health insurance. With the cost of medical care skyrocketing, that’s a prescription for disaster. A simple outpatient procedure can run thousands of dollars; treating more serious problems can leave uninsured families penniless. And the cost to society--in human, as well as economic, terms--is enormous.

Most adults without health insurance--85% of them--work hard in low-paying, non-union jobs and can’t afford to buy insurance on their own. But as premium costs continue to soar, even better paid employees, including many professionals, are losing healthcare benefits.

And the bad news just keeps getting worse. As most states make deep cuts in spending to cope with revenue shortfalls and huge budget deficits, millions of our poorest citizens are losing Medicaid benefits, their lifeline to decent healthcare.

The healthcare crisis is an incredibly complex problem, and there are no easy answers. But we can solve it, and one place to start would be to insist that our government invest in making decent healthcare affordable for working families, rather than provide more tax breaks for the rich.

If we continue to put off dealing with this critical issue, we will soon become a nation in which good healthcare is a privilege only the wealthy can afford--everyone else will just have to hope that they don’t become seriously ill or injured. For a nation as affluent as ours, that’s appalling.