By Carly Monello
Round Table editor

The United States has the greatest health care system in the world. Anyone with a serious injury or illness has a greater chance of survival if they are in America.

Reforms are needed to keep the quality of health care in this country while making it more affordable for everyone. The Obama-care bill accomplished neither of these; the bill addresses accessibility and does nothing to control cost.

Compare the current state of health insurance reforms in Maryland with those of Obama-care. Obama-care promises health insurance to everyone, regardless of their current medical conditions, with community-based rates and requires everyone to purchase it. Small employers in Maryland have had these same provisions for sixteen years, and premiums are rising twice as fast as the national average.

Furthermore, Maryland already has a high-risk pool as required by Obama-care. For years now, any Maryland resident who has wanted health insurance could obtain it with no questions asked, so accessibility is not an issue in our state. However, we get to pay the increased taxes and fines levied by the bill to support the rest of the country.

Despite the ease of obtaining health insurance in Maryland, we still have 750,000 residents in our state without health insurance. Of the three quarters of a million without health insurance, one-third qualify for public assistance and don’t apply. Another third earn enough to afford insurance, but choose not to purchase it. The objective is to make health insurance more affordable for the one-third in the middle that earns too much for public assistance but not enough to afford converge on his own.

Health care reforms that do not address cost are irresponsible. Health care reform that works should include physicians, insurers, legislators, and consumer groups all working together to keep what works with our system and make health care more affordable for America.