Take a close look at the numbers and see what works

The Hon. Al Smith, former governor of New York, always urged people to “look at the record.”
Average Americans want to know the basics about health care reform — specifically, how it will affect them. Will they have to pay more taxes? What will the impact be on their current health insurance plan, and will some government medical board curtail their coverage? The American people are entitled to clear answers on these questions.
So let’s look at the record. How many people now have health insurance or are entitled to it and choose not to enroll in a program? Of 307 million U.S. residents, 260 million are covered by a health care plan. Of the remaining 47 million uninsured Americans, approximately 10 million to 12 million are here illegally, and even President Obama said they would not receive coverage under his plan.
That leaves 37 million legal American citizens without health care. According to an ABC News report, 12 million people who are eligible for Medi-caid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) — which helps parents provide health insurance for their children — do not apply. When these people show up at a hospital emergency room for treatment, they should be automatically enrolled in Medicaid or SCHIP.
Subtract that 12 million and you now have 25 million legal American citizens who are still uninsured. ABC News reports that 5 million people choose not to buy their own insurance even though they make $70,000 or more a year, and another 7 million are employed but have declined their employer’s coverage.
So what we really have are 13 million Americans who are uninsured. Do we really want to tear up our established medical system for the less than 4 percent of the population who are uninsured? There are Americans who choose not to be insured, either because they’re self-employed or for whatever reason they reject coverage. Many are young people who don’t make health insurance a priority in their budgets.