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Focus Magazine

Focus Magazine

May/June (35/3)

Lets "Tear Down the Walls" to Better Health Care

by Congressman Edolphus Towns

Clearly, this was the case with Deamonte Driver, a young man who died from lack of access to dental care in the nation’s capital. As reported in the Washington Post, Deamonte’s death probably was preventable and should not have happened in our nation—a nation that spends almost $2 trillion a year on health care (or about $6,700 per person).

Despite that huge investment, we have created a system of haves and have-nots, many of whom receive health services equivalent of a third world nation. That investment is more than twice as much per capita as many European and other nations, yet our system of care is ranked 37th in overall health system performance by the World Health Organization, barely ahead of Slovenia and Thailand. And the number of those covered is decreasing. While Medicaid covers slightly more than 40 percent of the poorest Americans, the number of working poor covered by employer-sponsored health insurance has decreased over the last 15 years. Meanwhile, the number entering the ranks of the uninsured increases by 1-3 million a year. In addition, only 55 percent of Americans get appropriate care in their doctors’ offices.

This need not be the reality in America. I am tempted to paraphrase former President Ronald Reagan: “Mr. President, leaders in Congress, let’s tear down these walls!” By this I mean, let us have the political will to tear down the walls preventing access to care for all Americans, urban and rural. If we can spend billions on a war in Iraq, we can do what it takes to deliver good health care to all Americans, wherever they live and whatever their income.

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Did You Know?

About 10.4 million workers may be potentially affected by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (FMWA). Among the 7.7 million workers whose earnings may increase exclusively as a result of the proposed federal increases, about half (52.6 percent, or 4 million) are whites, about one in six (17.7 percent, or 1.4 million) are African Americans, nearly one quarter (23.9 percent, or 1.8 million) are Hispanics, 2.5 percent are Asians or Pacific Islanders, and 1.3 percent are American Indians and Alaska Natives. The other group is made up of 2.7 million workers who may first benefit from minimum wage increases in their states, and then later benefit from the FMWA as it raises the minimum wage to $6.55 by 2008 and $7.25 by 2009.Learn More