By Congressman Ciro D. Rodriguez (TX-23)

Throughout the month of August, I have been traveling throughout the 23rd Congressional District, listening to people's concerns about healthcare reform. So far, I have personally visited with more than 600 people at events as well collected thousands of calls and email comments from constituents throughout our 20-county district and many more gatherings are planned. The temperature of the debate has gotten pretty warm, and that's OK. It's a measure of how important and personal healthcare is to all of us. 

In these venues, two questions have come up again and again, and I believe they get at the heart of this national debate over healthcare. The first is, 'Why do we need to reform the current system?' The second is, 'How will we pay for it?' I don't have all the answers, but I believe the need for change is clear.

Our healthcare system is simply not working the way it needs to. Its shortcomings place an undue and increasing burden on families and businesses.  The status quo breeds insecurity and threatens our economic future.

Consider this:

In the last decade, insurance premiums for families have doubled while wages have stood still. Since 1987, the cost of the average health insurance policy has more than doubled from 7 percent of the median family income to 17 percent. And at least 46 million Americans are uninsured - more than 85 percent of whom are in working families.

Businesses and their employees are suffering too. In 1993, 61 percent of small businesses offered health coverage - last year, only 38 percent did. About 10 percent of small companies say they’re considering ending employee health coverage plans over the next year, and according to a Hewitt Associates survey, nearly one in five U.S. businesses plan to halt providing health care benefits to their employees in the next three to five years.

And if you think the current healthcare system isn't affecting our economy, think again. In 2006, the economy lost as much as $200 billion because of the poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured. If we don't do something soon, by 2018, health care spending will rise to $4.4 trillion - more than one fifth of the economy. We already spend twice as much per capita on health care than almost any other industrialized nation, yet objective analyses show we’re no healthier for it.

Since the recession began, 10,680 Americans are losing health insurance each day. Maybe you're one of them. Or maybe you have insurance, but your treatment is in jeopardy because the insurance company decided you had a pre-existing illness or condition.

This is not tenable. We must do something or the costs of the current system will continue to rise uncontrollably.  Insurance companies will continue to ration care and rake in profits.  Americans will go on paying more to receive less. 

The second big question is how to pay for it.

I know the American people are suffering. We're in a recession, and eight years of irresponsible spending have created a pretty deep fiscal hole that we need to get ourselves out of.  Your anxiety about our deficit is understandable. It may not seem like the time to take on healthcare reform. 

The truth is, we're already paying for the costs of uncompensated care. In our district alone in 2008, there was $47 million in care provided to people, often in emergency rooms, where federal law requires that every person be treated, regardless of their ability to pay. Who ends up footing those bills? We all do through federal, state, county, and hospital district taxes. The costs are hidden, but they're there.

Reforming healthcare will bring those costs into the open. Eliminating subsidies to insurance companies and attacking fraud and waste in the current system will pay for an estimated two-thirds of the current proposals. A persistent myth is that this plan will raise taxes on the already struggling middle class. Not true. No individual or family earning less than a quarter million a year will be taxed under any of the proposals before Congress.  

By investing more now in preventive care, we will keep our future costs from ballooning. Benjamin Franklin was right when he said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In the long run, we save by preventing illnesses rather than treating them.  This is a win-win strategy that will achieve better health outcomes for less money.

It's important to remember that there is no final bill yet, only proposals being considered in both the House and Senate. Those proposals will almost certainly change over time. There is more I'd like to see, including a greater focus on expanding access to care in rural areas, as well as revenue mechanisms that make sense for small businesses struggling in a recession.

I think we can all agree that no system is perfect. Many say we have good healthcare in this country. I don't disagree. But as the most innovative and industrious country in the world, we can do better.  Cheaper, more accessible, and higher quality care is well within our reach. Those would be improvements we could all live with. Are the current proposals the way to go? Not necessarily, but they are a start.  Let’s keep an open mind, debate respectfully, and work to solve this critical problem.  Our nation’s wellness and future economic strength are at stake.