Steps N.C. should take to lead on health care
Friday, November 21st, 2008
By Staff
RALEIGH - For much of its history North Carolina was known as a state with bold leaders and progressive ideas. It built Research Triangle Park, one of the nation's best community college systems and created pioneering early childhood education programs. The state was even a leader in expanding health care to its citizens.
In the 1940s, a group of influential businessmen and politicians came up with a series of recommendations, dubbed the "Good Health Plan," to boost the number of doctors, create a teaching hospital at UNC-Chapel Hill and expand Blue Cross insurance. At the time, Gov. Gregg Cherry said, "Only less sacred than the right of a child to obtain an education is his right to get a fair chance of health in his youth."
Despite the work of these visionaries, there are still more than 250,000 uninsured children in North Carolina.
OUR STATE CAN'T WAIT ON WASHINGTON FOR REFORM. Instead, citizens must demand action to ensure that everyone has access to needed care.
The N.C. Justice Center's Health Access Coalition has assembled a plan that can serve as a road map for reform in the state. It does not rely on the government to provide for all of our care. Nor does it follow the "corporate care" model that strips away consumer protections and caters to insurance companies instead of ordinary families.
Central to the plan is the idea that everyone should have a guaranteed choice of affordable, comprehensive health care options. It is also important that all stakeholders — hospitals, insurance companies, businesses and taxpayers — share costs equally. (more…)
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