In 2008 nearly 300,000 North Carolina children (12.8 percent) were uninsured. The numbers are likely worse now. Does insurance really make a difference in children’s health? Let me answer with a single statistic: uninsured children are 37 percent more likely to die when hospitalized than those with insurance. We say we want our children to learn and be healthy so they can compete successfully with the world. But if they cannot see, hear, or breathe, if they suffer from obesity, diabetes, attention deficit disorder, dental caries, and infections, how is it we expect them to learn, much less compete? Of course I am not just a health care provider; I am also vice president of the region’s largest independent pediatric practice, employing dozens of workers. I was floored this year when it came time to negotiate an insurance plan for our employees. As doctors we feel we don’t have the luxury many business owners exercise of forgoing health insurance for their employees altogether. But the cost this year was breathtaking, and what we and our employees got for our money was disappointing. What I know as a doctor I also see as a business owner: The current system is failing us all, it is getting worse every year, and it cannot continue. (You can read the rest of Dr. David Hill’s article here ) Regardless of the deafening sounds of anger, and the manufactured talking points, coming from the Right Wing, the facts are clear that our system is broken and that something must be done. The Republicans are so desperate to stop this bill that
