Health care is a moral and economic crisis

He was 55, a warehouse worker and father of three. He survived a heart attack, but the bills nearly destroyed his family. Even with health insurance, his costs soared into the tens of thousands of dollars. His co-pay for diabetes medicine alone was nearly $800 a month. Soon his savings were gone and then came the foreclosure notice.

Stories like his are not rare. They are happening every day. As a family physician, I see patients forced into impossible choices: Do they pay the rent or buy insulin? Do they keep food on the table or refill chemotherapy drugs?

Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States. Sixty-two percent of bankruptcies are tied to medical bills and 78% of those families had health insurance. In Illinois, families from Chicago to the suburbs to rural towns face the same struggles.

Meanwhile, insurance premiums rose 20% last year and will climb another 18 to 27% this year. At the same time, insurance companies reported billions in profits. America spends nearly 18% of its GDP on health care — far more than nations like the United Kingdom, which spends about 11% and covers everyone.

This is not just a health care problem. It is a moral crisis and an economic one. Families cannot stay strong if illness means losing their homes, their savings and their dignity.

Congress and the White House must act. Real reform is long overdue. No government or economy can long endure if it bankrupts its own people.

Luis I Salazar

Gurnee