Is there a realistic way to provide affordable health care to so many people?
Of course. Dislodge the health insurance system from the workplace and create a single-payer (government) or combination of private-government insurance to cover everyone. It would probably cost the country less in the long run—certainly not more than we’re paying now, if we include emergency room visits, absenteeism, birth defects, and other results of inadequate care. There is no rational reason why we should get health insurance through our jobs, any more than we should get auto insurance that way. At the moment, actually, those at the very bottom, covered by Medicaid, are better off than many who work but who can’t afford the premiums their employers charge. Employer-based insurance, whose costs have soared, also burdens small business excessively and increases the risk of entrepreneurship. Q: What about the link between poor housing and poor health? How can we secure decent housing for all low-income workers? A: The spike in children’s asthma has been attributed in large part to d
