Closing the Gap: Health Insurance for All West Virginians

CLOSING THE GAP: HEALTH INSURANCE FOR ALL WEST VIRGINIANS

Each day, thousands of West Virginians face a choice no one should have to make: to get medical attention they cannot afford or to put off addressing a problem that cannot be ignored. Neither choice is good for these individuals; neither is good for West Virginia.

Nationally, 41 million people have no health insurance, and the numbers are growing. These people live without the assurances many of us take for granted. They do not visit their family doctor for ailments that people with insurance would not think twice about. Often these ailments remain untreated, resulting in dangerous and costly emergency room admissions.

We have done a good job providing health insurance to children in West Virginia. Currently, only 6.6 percent of our state's children are uninsured, one of the lower rates of any state and half the national average. Programs like CHIP have allowed us to cover many more children than ever before, and we continue to work for 100 percent coverage of our state's youngest residents.

We must bring the same determination to the task of insuring adults. One in five West Virginians between the ages of 19 and 64 has no health insurance. Many of these people are young, married and working; many own their own businesses, working hard every day and growing the state's economy. But the skyrocketing costs of healthcare have prevented many employers, large and small, from offering insurance coverage to their workers. For small business owners, even insuring themselves and their families can be too expensive to afford.

It will not be easy, but the time has come to stop bemoaning statistics and start taking action. I am asking lawmakers, healthcare providers, insurance companies and businesses to join me in a commitment to reduce by half the percentage of residents uninsured in West Virginia.

These people work hard and are the backbone of our economy. The vast majority of the uninsured are in working families; more than half earn less than $20,000 a year. When they are forced to go to the emergency room for care, it costs all of us; healthcare providers must charge paying customers more to make up for the services they provide to the uninsured. As a result, premiums go up and healthcare becomes less affordable. It's a vicious cycle, and we must attack the root causes of these problems.

The crisis of the uninsured affects individuals, families, and businesses. It makes doctors' jobs difficult. It hinders education, economic development and quality of life. We all have a stake in this fight; together, we can win.