I already have health insurance.

Why should I care about Obama’s plan for quality, affordable health care?

One of the main reasons we care about fixing our broken health care system is that we can’t get our economy back on track if we don’t solve our health care crisis.

But there are many other reasons why quality, affordable health care is important:

• Some of our Local 99 brothers and sisters still don't have any health coverage. With new legislation helping our employers control costs, health coverage will be available to all of us.
• Even those of us who have fought for and won health coverage in our contracts have seen some of our benefits slipping away. For example, many LAUSD employees were forced to bargain hard this year to keep our health coverage. We joined with the other seven unions to increase our strength at the bargaining table. And while we were able to hang on to all of our coverage this time, there’s always our next contract to worry about. As costs skyrocket, it becomes too tempting for the District to try to take away some of our benefits.
• We must find a way to stop insurance companies from denying coverage simply because we’re sick. That’s exactly what they do when they screen out people with “pre-existing conditions.”
• Compared to other industrialized countries, America spends the most on health care and gets the least in return. We need a system that can rein in the costs of our world-class hospitals, cutting-edge research, and life-saving medications. We need a watchdog to make sure we’re not getting ripped off by the health industry—that puts people before profits.
• If you get sick, medical expenses can get out of control. In a 2005 study, almost half of Americans filing for bankruptcy did so for a medical reason. And of those, 7 out of 10 had health insurance. The costs need to be controlled. You should not be financially ruined because you get sick.
• Communities like Los Angeles, with large numbers of uninsured, experience more hospital closures, emergency room closures or reductions, and less control over communicable diseases (due to fewer vaccinations). In other words, the lack of affordable health care affects us all.
• It’s gotten more expensive for all of us. The average working pays more than twice for family coverage than in 1999. Health care costs are rising at double the rate of wage increases. And if we do nothing to stop the cost increases, even more people will be priced out of health coverage.
• One reason we care is simply our compassion. Being uninsured is a “disease” that kills as many people between the ages of 25–64 as diabetes, stroke, HIV, and homicide. 45.7 million Americans had no health insurance in 2007—15.3% of the population—including more than 8 million children. And of those uninsured households, 69% have at least one full-time worker in the home.